


I'm coming out.

by CALLEN37



Category: NCIS: Los Angeles
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, F/M, Femslash, M/M, Male Slash, heterophobia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-16
Updated: 2016-07-28
Packaged: 2018-02-04 23:06:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 31,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1796617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CALLEN37/pseuds/CALLEN37
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a world where everyone is Gay, Lesbian or bi-transgender. Callen is hiding a secret. He is straight. When his secret comes to light in the worst way he has to try and keep it together to avenge the woman he loved and worse of all he has to come out to his team as straight!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

  
  
Callen woke up and looked over at the blonde in his bed, “You gotta wake up soon baby, and Sam’ll be here to pick me up for work.” He said shaking her shoulder.  
  
Gerry opened her eyes, “What...G?” she said; she looked over at her dog tags hanging around his neck and smiled.  
  
“I’ll need those back lover boy.” She said reaching for them.  
  
He took them off, kissed her and walked into the shower.

* * *

He was dressed and standing outside as Sam pulled up.  
  
“Morning G.” Sam said as he opened the door.  
  
Callen walked up the sidewalk to the door his bag in his hand. “You look good this morning.” Sam said.  
  
Callen sighed, “I’m fine.” He said, Sam eyed him as he put the car into drive and headed into work.  
  
“Something is different.” He said.  
  
Callen stared out of the window avoiding his eye.  
  
Sam stopped at an intersection and looked over at him again, “You had a date!” he exclaimed.  
  
Callen sighed, “Yes I had a date.”  
  
“Tell me his name.” Sam demanded.  
  
Callen looked away again, he hated lying to his partner, but he couldn’t help it, Sam and Michael were like family and their little girl Rachel was the light of his life, if he told the truth he’d lose them.  
  
“His name is Gerry ok, and he’s a blond.” Callen divulged.  
  
“Nice, what’s he do?” Sam asked.  
  
“He’s a marine.” Callen told him.  
  
“Nice, I can’t wait to tell Michael, he wanted to set you up on a date with a nice little teacher called Joe.”  
  
“Well, Gerry and I are kinda serious, but with ‘his’ schedule you may not get to meet him for a while.” ‘Or ever’ Callen thought.

* * *

Callen watched as he got out of the car, Kensi and Nell arrived together as usual, they had been dating on and off for a year, Kensi’s attitude and Nell’s smarts meant that usually they were fighting more than making up, but Hetty had hopes for the couple.   
The only other couple in the team was Kensi’s partner Deeks who last summer had married Eric Beale the tech operator.   
  
  
Hetty looked up from her desk as Callen and Sam came in.  
  
  
Sam gave her a nod and she smiled, Hetty had been hoping for years that Callen would settle down find himself a nice man and get married. She had been keeping an eye on him ever since his mother Clara had been killed by the CIA for having a child naturally. Clara had been on a CIA mission and had to pretend to be straight, a dangerous assignment especially for the 1970’s when being straight was still illegal.  
  
  
Especially in the USSR.   
  
  
Where she had met and seduced Nikita Resnikov and had bore him two children until she had been shopped to the KGB and Nikita had to smuggle them out of the country.   
  
  
Nikita had been sent to Siberia as punishment for being straight and hadn’t been heard from since. Clara had made it as far as Romania and called her ex-wife Hetty for help.  
  
  
Hetty had pulled as many strings as she could, but the CIA had disavowed their agent and had her killed. Hetty’s current wife however had arrived straight after the hit and had smuggled the children into the US under false passports and she had hidden both of them in the system.  
  
  
Callen never knew he was the product of an unsanctioned coupling; he grew up like everyone else thinking he’d been ordered and created by the 'new birth' group. A government company where children were created to make sure the population thrived.  
  
  
Breeding mares, (Straight women who could bear children.) lived in compounds and were artificially inseminated in the case of a gay couple or an implanted egg was used, the egg and sperm belonged to both ‘parents’ sharing the DNA of both of them.  
  
  
Hetty had wiped Callen’s conception status and as such accidentally wiped his name and he had grown up with just the name G.  
  
  
She had watched him carefully over the years; there were rumors that children of these ‘straight’ parents could grow up straight themselves that would have spelt disaster for her boy.  
  
  
And yes make no mistake Hetty felt like she was his mother, after all had Clara not had to divorce her and take that assignment in the USSR, he more than likely would have been her son. A fact she kept hidden from her wife and Callen.  
  


* * *

Callen sat at his desk and got on with his paperwork.  
  
  
“URGH!” Kensi sat back disgusted.  
  
  
“What?” Deeks asked looking over his partners shoulder.  
  
  
“I thought we screened the mail?” Kensi said.  
  
  
Sam and Callen looked up at this.  
  
  
“We do, it’s screened in D.C, why?”  
  
  
Kensi opened the letter, “Look its disgusting!”  
  
  
She held up a picture of a man and a woman kissing. “Man shall not lie with woman.” She read off the back, “Who sent that?”  
  
  
Deeks shrugged, “I don’t know.” He said.  
  
  
“I hate stuff like that, I mean I’m not hetrophobic or anything, but I really don’t want to see that kind of thing.” Sam said, turning to Callen.  
  
  
Callen didn’t say anything; he just got out a bag and opened it. “Put it in there, I’ll take it to the file burn room.” He offered turning and walking out with it.

* * *

  
Callen shut the door to the burn room, he looked at the pictures, the women were really beautiful and he loved looking at them, for a second he thought about keeping the literature, but the hatred written on it hurt him, was he really unnatural because he liked women?   
He’d never had anyone in his life he could ask about it. He knew that mixing genders was forbidden, the only exception to the rule were people who were born transgender, they could switch depending on whether they were being male or female, the new accepted term for that was bi.  
  
  
He read the hate mail again and screwed it up in disgust and threw it into the incinerator and shut the door.  
  
  
He walked back out to the bullpen as Eric blew a big shiny gold whistle and grinned.  
  
  
“DEEKS!” Kensi yelled putting her hands over her ears.  
  
  
“Yes Fern?” Deeks grinned flashing his husband a wink.  
  
  
“Can you stop buying your husband whistles.” She sighed as he stopped blowing.  
  
  
“It keeps him happy, give him a break in his condition he can’t do much else.” Deeks smiled as Eric turned and the bulge in the front of his stomach showed.

* * *

  
The pregnancy pouch was invented to the main carer of a newborn would feel all the little kicks and movements of their baby as the brood mare carried him, it was linked via Wi-Fi to the pouch and the maternal parent would wear it for the entire span of the pregnancy, the pouch getting larger and heavier as time went on.  
  
  
According to the clock on the side of the pouch Eric had been ‘pregnant’ for four months 3 days and six hours.  
  
  
He walked into Ops and sat down as the pouch kicked, he smiled and rubbed the stomach, “Hey kiddo, give daddy a few minutes ok?” he said into the built in microphone which came out at speakers beside the ‘mares’ body.   
For the whole time she was pregnant a brood mare was not allowed to speak so that the child would only know it’s parent’s voices. She was only allowed to touch her stomach when the person wearing the pouch did and exactly where they touched.  
  
  
Eric felt the baby stop stretching as he rubbed the spot on the pouch where he could feel his child’s feet? Could be feet he supposed and the baby settled down.  
  
  
Deeks put his hand on the pouch and smiled as he felt the baby kick and then quickly moved to his place beside Kensi as Hetty came in to read them in on a case.

* * *

  
“We have a hit and run.” She said briskly. “A US Marine killed on the PCH, and people it’s a hate crime. It’s not pretty.”  
  
  
Callen looked up as Eric pulled up the picture.  
  
  
Gerry Moore’s body was splayed out over her car mutilated and naked. The same body G had kissed last night was now broken battered and dead.  
  
  
He swallowed the urge to cry and scream as Hetty continued.  
  
  
“Sergeant Gerry Moore apparently was spotted in a relationship with a man, as per the US Marines Don’t ask, Don’t tell, no one knew.”  
  
  
“Someone did.” Sam stated looking at the body on the screen.  
  
  
“The words WHORE and MANFAGGOT were carved into the hood of the car between her legs.” Nell said.  
  
Kensi shot Nell a smiled, “Where was she found?”  
  
  
“In a rest stop on the PCH, I hear that’s where straight people tend to hang out.”  
  
  
“That and public toilets.” Deeks laughed.  
  
  
Callen slipped out and headed to the bathroom, the second the door closed Callen let out a sob. “She was dead, Gerry was dead!” he sunk to his knees in the stall fighting the urge to vomit. Granted they had only met up 3 times before. But the sex had been mind-blowing and Callen had been happy.  
  
He needed to get himself together. 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Callen got himself together and arrived at the crime scene thankfully after the body had been taken away.

He walked over to Gerry’s car and looked through it as Sam talked to the police.

Looking over at the passenger side he let out a sigh of relief, there just in the side of the seat was his credit card from the other night. He looked around and Sam was still engrossed so he slipped it in his pocket.

He checked the rest of the car out; there was a stub from the nightclub where Callen had met Gerry on the Friday night. A watch, that was a man’s, but wasn’t his. He felt a stab of pain at that, had she been cheating on him?

He didn’t know and right now it wasn’t an issue, in the back was a small notebook, names and numbers of friends. And a pamphlet for NBSCA, A far right fringe group he had heard of the group but didn’t know what it stood for.

“What ya got?” Sam asked.

“This?” Callen said holding up the watch and the card.

“A man’s watch?” Sam said, “Looks expensive…and…oh…I wonder if she was a member of this group, being straight she might have been.” He said looking at the card with distaste.

“You heard of this group?” Callen asked.

“Yeah a far right group; Natural borns and straight couples of America.” Sam said, “They have been known to carry out terrorism acts, like the bombing last year of the ‘New Births’ breeding center in San Diego,” Sam walked off and looked out over the edge of the cliff they were standing on.

“Sam?” Callen said remembering what had happened last year.

* * *

 

Michael had been six months into his pregnancy, Sam had been ecstatic and was telling Callen all about the little brother they were due to give Rachel in the fall.

Sam brought along the current sonogram pictures that they had received by courier that morning, Michael, and Sam were already halfway through painting the nursery, when Hetty came in to tell them the news.

Sam turned to show her the sonogram picture and stopped at the look on her face.

“Mr. Hanna.” She said her eyes full of emotion.

“Hetty? What’s wrong?” he asked swaying a little, “Is Michael or Rachel hurt?”

“There’s been a bombing.” She started.

Sam paled, “Michael…is he…Hetty you have to tell me is my husband dead?”

Hetty shook her head, “Your husband and your daughter are fine, it’s your son…”

“My…?” Sam slumped into Callen’s chair.

“There was a Bombing at the ‘New Birth’ center in San Diego; a number of the Brood Mares were killed while the terrorists tried to free them, something about it being inhumane. I am sorry Mr. Hanna…Sam…the Brood Mare carrying your son was one of those killed.” She said laying a comforting hand on Sam’s arm, however right then nothing could have comforted him as he tried to; defiantly hold his emotions in check.

“Does Michael know?” Sam asked, “I need to be with him.” He said.

“Michael is on his way here, he is going to the medical center to have the pouch removed before he arrives.” Hetty told him.

“What! No! He can’t do that alone, Hetty I need to be with him, please…let me go, I will be back as soon as I can, but he can’t go through this alone.”

“I agree, I fully intend to accompany you to the hospital Mr. Hanna, if you will allow me I would be pleased to have Rachel for a few days so you and Michael can grieve properly.”

Sam looked over at her and nodded, as the rest of the team in the bullpen looked very shocked.

Sam stood up as Callen handed him his bag, Kensi was crying and Deeks looked stunned as they watched the strongest part of the team being led out by Hetty to go and support his husband as they had the last vestiges of their unborn child removed.

The team had been rocked to the core by this terrorist attack, Sam and Michael had taken a month off to grieve and finally Sam had come back to work.

The government was hunting down all natural born Americans and had insisted on them registering with the government so that if any of them were terrorists they could be weeded out.

During those few months Hetty had kept Callen busy, every time the testers came into the building he had been on assignment, eventually Hetty had offered to take the DNA sample herself and send it off to the registry, she had never done it, but they hadn’t brought it up either.

Now the group was back, or at least it looked like their victim was a member of this group.

Callen knew that he couldn’t let his link to Gerry come out; the death of Sam’s son was still so raw that it would ruin the trust between them irrevocably.

Sam took a deep breath and walked over to Callen, “This time we’ll find them.” He said, “No one should die like that and If this Gerry was a member of NBSCA maybe we can find a way in and take that group down too.”

Callen had texted Eric with all the information they had gathered at the scene and they headed back to ops.

“How are we going to infiltrate the group though?” Callen asked. “None of us are straight and I heard they do DNA tests to make sure you are a natural born, I mean…they don’t have the government markers in their DNA.”

“I don’t know…” Sam said trailing off, “But maybe Hetty will have some ideas.”

* * *

 

 

They entered the mission and Sam went over to Hetty to tell her what they had found while Callen went over to his desk.

He looked up the NBSCA group, he downloaded, as much as he could that would be needed for the case when a large yellow triangle flashed up on his computer and an alarm blared in OPS.

Hetty looked up as Callen jumped away from his computer as if burned.

“What’s that?” Sam asked looking over at his partner.

“Oh Bugger!” Hetty said and walked over to Callen.

“What are you doing Mr. Callen?” Hetty asked.

“Sam said about a terrorist group, the NSBCA?” Callen said looking at Sam.

“No NBSCA, Natural borns and straight couples of America, they may be the ones behind the attack on the Marine this morning.” Sam replied.

“See, I thought I’d see what we could get on them…this hasn’t been an issue before not with other terrorist groups?” Callen said.

Hetty’s insides clenched.

“Mr. Callen there is a reason that these searches are done from the operations center, they are cleared to access this sort of material, and your terminal is not. Protocol demands I ask you to step away from your workstation and I know have to phone a containment team, hopefully, we will be able to explain that this was just a misunderstanding,”

Callen looked calm but inside he was scared, the containment teams were legendary, many people had just gone missing from their homes, workplaces and schools for accessing the wrong material. If they found out he was straight…he could lose everything, his job, his home and if he wasn’t farmed off as stud for the Brood Mares, he’d be killed.

He walked over to the couch, and sank down onto it heavily watching as Hetty hurried to her phone.

“It’ll be ok…” Sam said trying to console him, “It’s not like you’re one of them, after all.”

Callen nodded holding his hands in fists to stop them from shaking.


	3. Chapter 3

Callen held his breath as Hetty entered the lounge area where he was sitting with his hands clasped tightly in his lap.

"Mr. Callen I talked with the containment team and convinced them that you were working under my direction as you have a plan to help find this group and take them out." She said, "So now…We need to come up with a plan don't you think?"

Callen nodded.

"How are we going to do that?" Sam asked from his seat beside his partner.

"We will send someone undercover." Hetty said flatly. "Mr. Callen I need a word with you." She walked down the corridor away from her office and opened the door that belonged to the operational psychologist. "In here please." She said with a small smile.

Callen looked at Sam and shrugged, and then he followed Hetty into the office.

* * *

Hetty closed and locked the door and Callen couldn't help but gulp. Then she pulled a key out of her pocket and opened a locked filing cabinet.

"I am sorry, Mr. Callen, I have some things you need to know, but they are vital to completing this mission." She placed the file on the table and sat on the chair facing him.

Callen looked at her worried.

"First things first, I am sorry for your loss." She said flatly and Callen blanched.

"My…My…?"

"I assume you were in a relationship with Miss Moore which is why you removed your credit card from her car at the crime scene," she said having seen the LAPD crime scene photos and noticing the discrepancies.

Callen looked in fear towards the locked door, had Hetty turned him in?

"Never fear Mr. Callen, I have so many of your secrets, I assure you I will not be reporting you to the containment team because you are straight."

Callen blinked, he opened his mouth a few times not knowing what to say, then he spoke, "My secrets?" he asked.

"I should be asking your forgiveness, but please be assured that everything I kept to myself was for your own safety and mine."

Callen watched as Hetty with a slightly shaking hand opened a file and looked at him.

"I knew your mother," she said quietly.

Callen looked up in surprise, "You did? You knew her before I was assigned to her?" he asked.

"No…Mr. Callen, I knew your birth mother, her name was Clara, and you lived with her till you were five years old."

"I…I…can't have, I know births don't work like that, the child is taken from the brood mare and assigned to a family."

"You are a natural born child." Hetty said and watched as the horror crossed his face.

"I?...I can't be…to be natural born is illegal, I would never have been allowed in the foster system, I would have been left to die on the streets as an infant. It's the law." He stood up and tried to go for the door.

Hetty stopped him, "Wait Mr. Callen, I need to explain."

Callen moved over to the chair again and sat down. "OK." He said he was shaking, but he didn't care at that point everything he knew was being turned on its head.

* * *

"I was married to your mother a long time ago." She said matter of factly. "I met Clara in the early 1960's she was beautiful and we fell in love, however it soon became clear to me that she was straight. She tried to hide it of course, but in her own way she loved me too, and I accepted her for who she was, and who she was, was a loving and kind woman, who loved her job."

Callen looked up as Hetty took a picture out of the file and handed it to him, "Your mother was CIA, she was in black ops." She said as he looked at the picture of the smiling dark haired woman.

"Did you take this?" he asked.

Hetty nodded, "On our Honeymoon in Paris." She told him.

Callen traced his finger over his mother's face, as Hetty told him the story, "We had some wonderful years together Mr. Callen, we were not selected to be parents, but in some ways I do consider myself to be your mother."

Callen looked up at her tears in his eyes that he was holding back, and nodded in agreement. "Me…me too." He admitted his throat hoarse.

"Clara was given an assignment in 1965, to make contact with a Russian Major, Nikita Alexsandr Resnikov. Apparently he was straight too and your parents hit it off, as they say."

"Resnikov? He's my father?" Callen asked stunned.

Hetty nodded, "When they fell in love they disappeared underground, Clara emerged in 1975, Nikita had been taken by the KGB for being straight and having children naturally, he had managed to smuggle you, your mother and your sister out. They made it as far as Romania, Clara called me to try to get you all smuggled into America, however I was being watched, but my wife now…she understood how much Clara and by extension you children meant to me and she agreed to help. She didn't get there in time to stop the contamination team from killing her."

"I have a sister?" Callen was stunned, "Where is she?"

Hetty sighed and shook her head, "We didn't know…" she said looking him in the eye, "Back then we didn't know that they tested them in the orphanages, Amy…your sister, failed the test for genetic markers, they threw her out onto the street, she fell down a culvert during a storm and died when she was eleven."

Callen blinked back the tears he felt for a sister he never knew.

"How did I pass those tests?" he asked.

"You didn't, you've never taken one, Wanda…my wife works for the testing department, she's been falsifying your test results for years." She admitted, "So you see both my wife and I are a guilty of wrongdoing as you are by your smaller transgression, so you can see your secret is safe with me."

Callen nodded, "I'm pleased you told me Hetty, it's nice to know I had family, have family…in you, but why didn't you tell me earlier, why tell me now?" he asked.

"Because we can use this to our advantage, we can send you into the NBSCA you don't have genetic markers and this means when they test you you'll be clear."

"Will they use needles?" Callen gulped.

Hetty smiled slightly, she had developed his phobia of needles as a child and the state had been forced to call in outside help for his testing, which usually involved Wanda or Hetty herself.

"Probably, but don't worry this time you won't fail the test, but now I hope you understand why I need you to be the one to go undercover."

"But…I can't tell the others about me and Gerry, Sam especially won't understand, not with what he and Michael went through last year."

"You do not need to tell them, only the fact that you are going undercover, due to the nature of your assignment I am going to ask Deeks to be your handler, he has the extra resources of LAPD, people on the ground that are also investigating the group." She said.

Callen looked at her and smirked, "You got forced to include LAPD didn't you?" he gave a small laugh some of the tension dissipating as Hetty smiled back at him.

"Yes Mr. Callen." She said.

* * *

"Hetty?" Callen asked as he held onto the picture not wanting to give it back yet, "If you know all this about me…Do you know my name?" he asked.

Hetty shook her head, "Sadly no, as we did your records your name was lost, maybe one day, we will find someone who knows it."

She reached out for the picture, "I'm sorry, it's not safe for you to have that right now,"

"But…Hetty?!" he looked heartbroken, "I…it's her…the only piece of her I'll ever have."

Hetty nodded, "And it will be here for you to see any time, but right now you have to go undercover, your assignment is to find out who is heading this group and help us stop them. They may be right in their thinking, I'm not going to lie to you and tell you I think straight relationships are wrong, because they aren't and I personally hate what our government is doing, but terrorist attacks are wrong and these need to be stopped."

Callen nodded in agreement. "Do we let Deeks in on the secret?" he asked slightly worried.

"About you? No! As usual Mr. Deeks will be under the assumption that I have pulled off one of my miracles and have managed to get you all you need to infiltrate this group. LAPD have information on where this group meets and using Gerry's card and the Erm…intimate knowledge you have of her, you can use this to find them and attend their next meeting, which according to LAPD is tomorrow. You are to contact Mr. Deeks once a week. Now, are you ok enough to go and join the others and fill them in on the plan?"

Callen nodded, "Yeah…and Hetty…Thanks…thanks for everything."

She nodded, "You are a fine Agent, Mr. Callen maybe someday we will be able to prove that being straight is nothing to be ashamed of and it's as natural as being gay, lesbian or bi is now."

Callen gave a half-hearted smile. "I hope so Hetty." He said and watched as she unlocked the door and they stepped out.

"Do me a favor Hetty?" Callen asked as they walked towards the bullpen in order to brief the others.

"Anything?" she said earnestly.

"Don't tell Nate that the door locks." He grinned as they turned the corner.

 


	4. Chapter 4

Hetty called the team up to ops and sealed the room.

"We are going undercover in the NBSCA."

Sam looked at her. "Is this sanctioned by SECNAV?" he asked.

Hetty looked at him, "Yes this is sanctioned Mr. Hanna, it is also top secret, only those in this room will know about the operation, there will be no discussion of it outside of here."

"How are we going to get anyone in there, I hear they test for genetic markers, none of us will pass the test." Kensi said looking over at their boss.

"I will." Callen said.

He wasn't going to come out to his team as straight, he wasn't ready for that, but the news that he was a Natural Born, and he didn't know about it… He hoped the team would be understanding.

"What do you mean you will?" Sam asked.

Callen took a step back in concern at the tone Sam was using.

"You?" Deeks looked surprised.

Callen nodded but kept his eyes down waiting for his teammates to turn on him.

"I had been told there was someone here who didn't have the markers, but I didn't know who…" Deeks started, "How long have you known?" he asked.

Callen shrugged, he'd lost track of time since his talk with Hetty, and he looked at his watch, "About 45 minutes." He admitted.

"How did you make it into a government agency, the markers are designed to keep people like you out!" Sam snapped.

"People like….me…?" Callen looked up and saw the anger in Sam's eyes. "Forget it Hetty, I'll quit, go on the streets where I belong, let Sam take the lead."Callen felt utterly betrayed as he walked across Ops, made it as far as the door and kicked it in frustration, as it wouldn't open.

"Mr. Hanna, are you telling me that now that you know the circumstances of Mr. Callen's birth you are not as much his partner now as you were 45 minutes ago." Hetty said, the others watching wide-eyed as the two senior agents stood on opposite sides of the room.

Callen stood with his back to the door; arms wrapped protectively around himself, took a deep breath and looked at the others.

Eric had moved closer to Deeks, both looking at him with pity, Kensi and Nell, were, it seemed more accepting and Sam was angry.

"How did you not know?" Sam asked trying to not feel the hatred that normally came with an announcement like that.

"I don't even know my first name Sam, I don't know how I managed to pass all the tests, all I know is I did, maybe someone is looking out for me I don't know. Look I know how you feel, I was shocked too, but I'm still me, nothing has changed." Callen said imploring his partner to look at him with something other than hatred.

Sam shook his head, "I…I …I can't…"

Callen looked at Hetty who nodded sadly.

"This mission is still top priority people, Agent Hanna, you may work with Kensi for the time being, Mr. Deeks will be on point with Mr. Callen and Ms Blye you and Agent Hanna can work the Marine angle, see if you can find out who killed her."

The door opened and Callen all but ran from the room.

"Mr. Deeks my office." Hetty said and walked out with Deeks on her tail.

* * *

Sam felt bad. Callen was his partner. But as soon as he heard this he had flashed back to the day his son died and the weeks afterwards, Michael going through the pouch removal and the flood of hormones that hit his system afterwards, the crying and the feeling of loss that couldn't be replaced and Callen was just like them.

He walked down the hall to hear someone in the gym.

Opening the door he looked in Callen had his back to Sam and he was hitting the bag with all the force he could muster.

He turned an inch and Sam looked on worried as he noticed Callen hadn't padded up and was hitting the bag bare knuckled.

He looked at him, he was still his partner, still the same man he'd been joking with this morning on his ride into work, but something was different, the way Callen now held himself. He looked…broken.

He wanted to apologize, wanted to let Callen know that he was still a friend and a brother and that Michael, loved him as well, Rachel would be devastated if she couldn't see her uncle Callen again.

Sam sighed he needed to get his head out of his ass if he wanted to help his friend.

He took a step towards Callen and he stopped hitting the bag.

"Don't!" Callen said not looking at him.

Sam stopped and watched him, he wanted to say something, anything, but Callen didn't acknowledge him until he turned around anger and pain radiating from him.

"Why?" he asked.

Sam looked at him. "I didn't mean to…"

"You didn't mean to be the last person that I would ever trust; you didn't mean to treat me like I'd just killed your child!" Sam flinched at that. "You didn't mean to treat me like a pariah for something I had no control over, you think you're the only one who has lost people…well you're wrong Sam. I had a sister, a big sister, like Rachel would have been to your son, only my sister wasn't killed by terrorists, no. She was killed by the government thrown out on the street like trash because she didn't have the right markers, she died in a ditch, drowned because no one would help her, and do you see me blaming _ **YOU?"**_

He threw another punch at the heavy bag and turned away from Sam.

"G…I…I'm sorry. Let me help you with this case, we can get you in with your people." Sam pushed.

"MY? …Don't!" Callen said again. He grabbed his towel and walked towards the showers ignoring the look of sadness on Sam's face and slammed the door between them.

"You expected anything less?" Deeks asked leaning on the doorframe.

Sam shook his head, "No."

"He's just had his life turned upside down and the one person who should have had his back without question, you. You let him down, he had let you in, and even I could see that, he trusted you. I'm glad you're not my partner." He said and turned his back and walked away.

* * *

Sam sat at his desk. Kensi and Deeks shooting glances at each other then Kensi got up and walked over towards Sam. "So we looking into the dead Marine?" she asked.

Sam nodded and handed her what they had so far, "We need to find out as much as we can about her, who she saw, where did she hang out, anything that will help us get an in for Callen."

"Don't bother." Callen snapped as he walked past, "I can find my own way in….these are 'my people' remember." He snapped sarcastically as Sam winced.

"G I didn't mean it like that!" Sam argued.

Callen walked over to Hetty, "I'm in…no argument, when do we go?"

Hetty looked over at the over quiet bullpen.

"We need to know where to meet these people. To be honest I'm not sure where to go." She told him.

Callen gave a sad smirk, "I know where to go, I'm gonna need to cruise the straight bars and underground clubs." He told her in confidence where he had met Gerry and they agreed that was probably the place to start.

Two hours later, dressed in one of Hetty's hottest outfits, a pair of relaxed denim jeans and an aqua blue shirt that made his eyes pop he was ready to go.

"You sure you're going to be up for it?" Deeks asked as he checked him out. He was surprised Callen looked more relaxed than he thought he would be.

Callen nodded.

"Ok partner, you're wearing a button cam and an earwig, so you head on inside and see if anyone checks you out, to be honest, I can't see why anyone wouldn't." Deeks grinned.

Callen rolled his eyes and walked out to the bullpen where Hetty was waiting, "Mr. Callen, the containment team and LAPD know we are working this club tonight. So they will not be raiding it, in fact they will be staying away for the duration of this mission, I have it on  _ **good**_ authority that this club is frequented by a number of straight clientele and you should be able to meet someone there."

"You good to do this?" Kensi said worried.

Callen nodded, "How could I not be they're 'my people'" he said, then he caught the sad look Kensi gave him, "Sorry Kensi, I'm good, we need to get into this terrorist group and stop them." He gave her a smile and headed for the door.

* * *

Walking into the club, Callen sat by the bar, not really checking anyone out.

"What can I get you?" the man behind the bar asked.

"Scotch, Rocks…" he said and put the card on the bar, "And run a tab?" he asked.

The barman nodded and poured his drink.

"Hope that wasn't too expensive, Hetty'll kill you." Deeks said in his ear.

Callen snorted and drank his drink.

He looked over to a brunette sat at the end of the bar who looked over at him a few times.

He smiled and took another drink.

Sam and Kensi were watching through the button cam in ops looking to see if anyone in particular was paying too much attention to Callen.

"Hey, by a girl a drink?" she asked moving closer to him.

Callen shrugged, "No harm in that." He said "What can I get you?"

"Amaretto sour." She said nodding to the barman. Callen nodded in agreement and handed her the drink. "My name's Charlie, what's yours?" she asked.

"Callen." He said.

In ops Sam looked over at Hetty, "He's using his name?" he asked worried.

"He insisted, it makes his backstopping easier, we can use his real parent's names." She told them.

"You know who they are?" Sam asked surprised.

"I know who they were, we believe they are both dead now." Hetty turned her attention back to the screen, where Callen and Charlie had moved to a booth.

"Have I seen you here before?" she asked.

Callen shrugged, "Once or twice." He said.

Charlie looked him up and down, "You look nice tonight," she said hoping he'd bite.

"You do too, I was looking for a friend though, Gerry?" he said feeling his throat close up on her name.

"I saw her the other night, she left with a guy…maybe you? Looked like you," she giggled as Callen stroked her hand, "Although I haven't seen her since. Maybe she's moved on, I mean…you don't wanna hang around the same bars all night, might get raided."

Callen nodded, "But the running is fun if you don't get caught." He added.

She leaned in closed and in Ops Sam grimaced.

"He isn't gonna…..Urgh!" Sam turned away while on screen Callen kissed Charlie and sat back.

"Nice," She smiled.

"Let me buy you another drink." Callen said gesturing to the barman.

She sat back holding his hand and smiled.

"How long have you known that you were straight?" she asked quietly.

Callen smiled putting her at ease, "Ever since I was a teenager, where my friends were looking at boys, I couldn't help but notice how pretty the girls were." He admitted.

"Mothers or Fathers?" she asked him.

"Neither." Callen said, "I'm an orphan."

Charlie placed her hand on his cheek, "I'm sorry, did your mothers' die?" she asked.

Callen gave a sad smile, "my mother was killed by a containment team."

"Oh your mother was a switch too?"

"Sorry?" Callen asked as if confused.

"She was born Lesbian and switched to straight?" Charlie reiterated.

Callen shook his head, "No…my mother was straight, she just pretended to be lesbian, to keep her job, then she was put undercover and she met my father."

Charlie looked at him and did a sharp intake of breath, "You're a Natural Born?"

Callen let go of her hand, "I…no, I…"

"Shh, Callen it's ok…I won't rat you out…it's just I know people, people like you…"

Callen looked at her, this was what they were hoping for, "There are people like me?" he asked his voice conveyed awe and fear.

"Oh he's good!" Kensi said with a smile.

Charlie nodded, "There is a group, NBSCA, they are people like you who have two parents, they are trying to prove that what the government is doing is wrong, we have a meeting later tonight, will you come?" she asked.

Callen nodded, he ignored the knot in his stomach, and this was what they had been waiting for. "I'd love too." He said as he finished off his Scotch.

In ops Eric turned to his husband with a grin, "Did you hear that Marty, we're in!"

Deeks grinned back over the laptop in his car, "Yeah, we are…now all we have to do is find out where the meeting is going to be." He turned his attention from his husband and back to the mission at hand.

 


	5. Chapter 5

Callen had gone home with Charlie last night and she had left early the next morning. Callen waking early with her had gone for a run, his clothes in his backpack and jogged to work. He hadn't expected Sam to pick him up as normal, but he wasn't going to get in a car with the man either.

He arrived at Ops before 6am and went into the showers to wash before he started his day. Getting dressed he walked out into the bullpen to find a coffee on his desk.

Sam was nowhere to be seen, and Callen eyed the drink suspiciously.

"Drink it G," Sam said from behind him.

"You buy it?" Callen asked eyeing him warily.

Sam nodded, "I was wrong G, you're my partner…it's not your fault your parents were straight, you didn't know and I shouldn't hold it against you…you did good on the op last night, even I was convinced." He said trying to placate him.

Callen clenched his fist and looked over at him, but said nothing.

"Come on G, I'm sure after the op, they'll let you keep your job." Sam said as Deeks and Kensi walked in.

Callen picked up the coffee strode over to Sam's desk and dropped it in the trash can beside it. "No thanks." He snapped and walked over to Hetty's office.

* * *

"Ah, Mr. Callen good morning, I hope you and Mr. Hanna managed to resolve your differences?" she said as she poured him a cup of tea.

Callen shook his head, "He's not going to accept me, and in fact I am surprised he hasn't called the containment team to pick me up yet."

Hetty smiled, "I had and still have your back son." She said quietly.

Callen smiled around his teacup and took a sip. "Nice." He nodded.

"You have to give Sam time, he's trying to get over the shock, remember what he lost." Hetty told him somberly thinking of his son.

"What about what I have lost," Callen snapped, "My mother, my father, my sister and more than likely after this my job. Don't kid yourself Hetty, the containment team will let me stay for this operation, but as soon as it's over both you and I know that I'm out of a job, a home and any chance of a normal life, I'm gonna end up back on the streets."

"You know I wouldn't let that happen to you Callen." Hetty said.

Callen smiled sadly, "I know you wouldn't want to but its 30 years in Maximum security for harboring a natural born person, and an extra 10 years if they …." Callen stopped as Hetty nodded in understanding.

"Be that as it may, you will always have a home with me." Hetty said sternly.

Callen knew he couldn't argue with her so he didn't even try, "Did Kensi and Sam get any leads on Gerry's killer?" he asked.

Hetty shook her head, "They know she left with a man the night before she died, they still don't know who killed her."

"I didn't kill her; she was alive when she left my house." Callen said quietly to her.

"I know," Hetty said, "Mr. Beale is checking out some camera footage from surrounding roads looking for anyone who may have been in the car with her, but right now our best lead is to get you into the NBSCA." She told him.

As if it had been pre ordained Callen's phone vibrated, not his work one but his undercover alias work phone.

He looked at Hetty and she nodded as he took it.

"Callen?" he said, his face lit up, "Charlie…how are you?" he asked.

He listened to her as she told him that the NBSCA were meeting that night, not the main group but a local chapter, and if he checked out he might get invited to the main meeting.

"I'll be there." He said and ended the call.

"I take it you are in?" Hetty asked.

"I will have to let my partner know." Callen said.

Hetty smiled, "So you will talk to Mr. Hanna?" she asked.

Callen shook his head, "No…My partner Deeks…he's my partner on this operation, probably the last partner I'll ever have, but he needs to be kept in the loop."

"On everything?" Hetty asked.

Callen glared at her, "No…not everything…but enough." He told her.

She sighed, "I wish it were not so hard for you to trust people." She said seeing Sam coming over towards them.

"I tried to trust people, we told them about my parentage, something that I had no hand in, and look how well that turned out." He snapped.

"Mr. Hanna has a few preconceived notions and with the losses he suffered due to this group it does not endear yourself to your cause."

"THE NBSCA IS NOT MY CAUSE!" Callen shouted.

Hetty put up her hands to placate him, "A poor choice of words Mr. Callen, however for the remainder of this mission, you do have to live and breathe this group." She handed him a large file, "This is all we have on it I suggest you and your partner look it over."

"What did you want us to look at Hetty?" Sam asked.

"You nothing…I have to show these to my partner." Callen snapped and grabbed the file off of Hetty's desk. "Deeks!" he called and he walked away from Sam.

* * *

Sam slumped in the chair Callen had just vacated, "I don't know what to do Hetty, I tried bringing him coffee, I've tried telling him, I'm ok with what he is…I mean it's not like he's really one of them…you know…straight…he can't help how he was born, I mean I feel sorry for him and all…but I don't know what else I can do?" he looked at her and saw the frown on her face.

"And you expected him to be ok with that?" she said.

"I'm trying Hetty I really am, but finding out he's a natural…and then seeing him undercover with that woman…and they kissed…I mean, that's just not normal." He looked at her, "its unnatural…can't they do something about people like that…like a pill or therapy or something?" he asked.

"Mr. Hanna, does it not occur to you that maybe, just maybe people are how they are meant to be, and being a natural born person, or a straight person would not make Mr. Callen any less of a man than you?"

"Well yes…I mean no…I mean…I don't know?!" Sam huffed exasperatedly.

"Mr. Callen is about to put himself on the line for us, to save many lives, he will be going into this terrorist organization, not because he is as the government would have us believe expendable for being natural born, but because as a man, it is the right thing to do. It is a good thing for us he is natural born; otherwise we would have never gotten this shot."

Sam nodded, "I don't mean to sound hetrophobic or anything, but he was pretty convincing with that Charlie last night, he could have fooled me."

"And that Mr. Hanna is why he is going undercover and why he is an asset to this company."

* * *

Callen slammed the folder down on the desk in Nate's office.

"This is all we have on the NBSCA, I'm going to a meeting with Charlie tonight, she knows a local group, I have to be tested by them and if I pass I get to go to the main group meeting."

"Ok." Deeks said looking at all the information. "You're going to have to go in without a comm. They'll check you; we've lost five undercover cops at these local meetings all of whom were wearing a wire, three turned up dead, and two are still missing." He said solemnly.

"So how do I keep in touch?" Callen asked.

Deeks shook his head, "The first few meetings, you can't. You can call afterwards, and I'll be outside…nearby, but to be honest Callen, you've gotta do this solo."

Callen sighed, "Ok I understand…"

"I'll meet you at my house after the meeting, I talked to Eric and he said it'd be ok if you came by for a debrief."

"Is Eric going to be alright with that in his condition and all." Callen asked worried for his friend.

Deeks smiled, "Yeah, this pregnancy keeps him up most nights; Hetty's letting him sleep in the afternoon. We asked the birthing center if they could give something to the brood mare to help the baby sleep so Eric could sleep, but they said it'd hurt him."

Callen smiled, "You're having a boy?" he asked.

Deeks grinned, "Yeah had the scan yesterday evening after work." Deeks pulled out a scan and showed Callen.

"Wow that's great congratulations." He smiled.

"Eric is stoked; he woke up this morning wanting to paint the whole house blue." Deeks grinned.

Callen laughed, "Yeah I heard pregnancy hormones can do that to a guy." He said.

* * *

Callen pulled the car up outside the address Charlie had given him; He got out of the car and saw Deeks, dressed as a homeless guy down the street. He looked up and down and saw Charlie pull up with two other men in a van.

"What's going on?" Callen asked as Deeks watched.

"We need to make sure you ain't a cop." Charlie said, "This is too important."

"Of course I ain't a cop, would I be here if I was?" Callen snapped.

The two men got out and held Callen by the arms, "GET OFF ME!" Callen struggled and Deeks moved a bit closer.

"CHARLIE?" Callen yelled as she walked up to him and syringe in her hand.

"Shhh….it's ok lover, I just need to be certain, you'll be all right." She kissed him and injected a clear liquid into his neck.

He sagged in the other men's arms and they carefully placed him in the van and drove off.

"Shit!" Deeks swore. "Eric…Callen is M.I.A…Repeat Callen is M.I.A, call Hetty." He said leaning heavily against the wall and hoping that Callen wouldn't become number six.

 


	6. Chapter 6

Callen woke up slowly; he was disorientated and had no idea where he was. He remembered being grabbed from behind by two men and Charlie sticking a needle in him, but…he wasn't in a dank and dark warehouse or basement where he had expected to be…he was in a comfortable bed in a light airy room.

He blinked as the curtains were opened and the sunlight streamed in, he looked outside, all he could see where fields and horses and cattle.

"Where am I?" he asked his voice cracking a little.

Charlie turned with a smile, "You…are a very very special man G. Callen, I don't know why but our leader gave orders for you to be brought here." She said handing him a tray with a sumptuous breakfast on it.

"I hope you like it, I made it myself." She smiled climbing next to him on the bed and offering him a slice of bacon.

Callen swallowed thickly, his throat was sore and his head ached, "How long have I been out?" he asked.

Charlie smiled at him, "A week, it was necessary. We had to do tests on your blood, we are sorry; you never said who you were."

Callen looked at him, "What do you mean who I am?" his blood turned to ice, if they had found out he was a federal agent they'd kill him for sure.

Charlie smiled, "He's been looking for you for years, but I'm not going to spoil all the fun." She kissed him. "Eat your breakfast he's dying to meet you."

"Who is?" Callen asked.

"The leader of the NBSCA." Charlie told him, "There are clean clothes in your size in the closets and the bathroom is over there," she said pointing to a door on the right. "You have all the same toiletries I remembered from your bathroom."

"Thanks?" Callen said confused.

"Eat up, I'll be back in an hour." She smiled, kissed his cheek and walked out of the room.

Callen sat there in shock, what on earth could be so important about him?

* * *

Deeks paced the floor in front of the big screen at ops re-watching the same piece of footage again and again.

"There must be more!" he said to Eric, who looked sadly over at his husband.

"Marty I've looked over a hundred times, there is nothing else, the van disappeared, Sweetheart there is no way to find him." He said softly.

Deeks looked at the sadness on Eric's face. He walked over and wrapped his arms around his husband, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you," he rubbed the pregnancy pouch on Eric's belly and felt the 'baby' kick. "I just feel like I've let him down, I was his partner and I needed to have his back." He said.

Eric smiled up at Deeks, "It's ok Marty I'll keep looking." He said.

Deeks turned around and pushed the chair Eric was sitting on towards the door, "Nope, you are going to rest, this isn't doing you or the baby any good," he said as Hetty walked up the stairs, "Hetty tell this husband of mine to rest and put his feet up." Deeks said to her.

Hetty looked at the bags under Eric's eyes. "Your husband is right Mr. Beale, you need to rest, go and have a few hours on the couch downstairs, and I'm sure Ms. Jones can take over the search for you." She said and shooed him down the stairs.

Deeks turned back to Hetty, "Thanks." He said.

She turned to him, "I would suggest you joined him, you have hardly slept in the last week." She said softly.

Deeks looked at the floor, "I failed him Hetty, and I couldn't get to him in time. I didn't want to let him down."

Hetty patted his arm and gestured to a bench on the walkway; Deeks walked over and sat down, looking over the bullpen area as she sat next to him.

"You see the rest of the team down there…do you know what they are doing?" she asked.

"Cases?" Deeks replied watching them typing on their laptops, "Paperwork?"

"They are following up every lead your husband has found in the last week, looking for Mr. Callen. They have your back and they have his."

Deeks looked at them all working hard and realized he wasn't alone in this.

"As soon as someone finds anything we will work on it, this case will not go cold and Mr. Callen will be found." She told him.

Deeks nodded unable to keep his eyes from misting up, "Thank you." He said. He looked over to where Eric was leaning against the side of the couch trying to get comfortable, the motors in the pregnancy pouch were moving as the child inside the brood mare picked up on Eric's mood through the sensors and was antsy.

"I think you husband needs you right now Mr. Deeks, go have an hour or so, help him to sleep and then you can join us in the bullpen." She said.

Deeks looked at her and smiled, "Thank you Hetty, I will, but if anything comes up…."

"I will wake you immediately." She promised.

* * *

Callen showered and dressed and was surprised to find the door to his room was unlocked.

He walked down the hallway and saw a guard on the stairs.

He tensed as the man turned, "Good morning sir." The guard smiled, "Charlie is downstairs in the lounge, 3rd room on the left." He said.

Callen nodded, not sure what to say and continued to walk down the stairs, he stopped as another man walked past arm in arm with a woman who giggled at something he had said.

Callen's eyebrow shot up as he recognized the man as one of the undercover detectives that Deeks had told him about.

"Agent Callen…Good morning, it's nice to see you awake." The man said.

"I…I…er...thanks?" Shit…he had been compromised.

He took a deep breath and as he entered the lounge he saw Charlie sitting on the couch with a silver haired man.

The man stood up and smiled, "Callen! I am so glad you are awake and feeling good no?" he asked with a thick Russian accent.

Callen nodded his eyes darting for something he could use to defend himself.

"Ah…you are worried are you not?" the man said, "Forgive me I should have introduced myself, my name is Arkady Kolcheck, and you are looking for a weapon are you not?" he opened a case containing the same gun that Callen usually used. "Would this make you feel at home?" he asked and handed him the weapon.

"What the hell is going on?" Callen asked.

Arkady smiled, "I run the US branch of the NBSCA. It is a smaller group than the worldwide Natural Born and straight couples of the world. NBSCW." He said. "We are sorry for the method that we used to bring you here, so many people have tried to infiltrate and destroy our group, and also our leader had us checking DNA in the hope that one day you would seek us out."

"Me?" Callen asked confused. "Because of the fact my parents were straight and I'm natural born?"

Arkady shook his head and laughed, "No you are so much like him…No…Because the leader of our group has been searching for you and your sister for years,"

"I don't have a sister." Callen answered by rote.

Arkady nodded sadly as Charlie put her arms around him, Callen flinched in terror at being held by a woman as a stranger looked on.

Arkady shook his head sadly, "One day moy syn, you will be able to do that in public with no shame that is our leader's goal."

Callen moved away from Charlie and looked out of the window, "You know who I am then?" he asked, knowing he wouldn't be able to escape.

"Yes, our leader is very proud of you." Arkady said with a smiled.

"He is?" Callen looked totally confused, he had expected to be met with a gun, but instead Arkady was opening a laptop.

"Yes he would like to talk with you." He said opening a Skype connection.

Callen couldn't believe this, this wasn't how he and Deeks planned it at all, "I will talk to him first, he was excited to hear you were here and wanted to talk to you first before he came to the United States."

"I don't understand, what is so special about me?" Callen asked as Arkady maneuvered him into a chair facing the laptop screen as a man's face came into view.

"Gregori?" the man said his face breaking into a smile, his bright blue eyes tearing up, "I wasn't sure till just now, I mean I know DNA doesn't lie, but…my God you look like your mother." He said his Russian accent cracking with emotion.

"I'm sorry, who are you? You knew my mother?" he asked looking at the grey haired man.

The man smiled and nodded, "Very well, Gregori…"

Callen shook his head, "My name is G…G. Callen."

The man nodded, "Yes, I know, Gregori Nikitovitch Callen Resnikov."

"What? Who are you?" he asked again, the voice touched a longing within him and he didn't know why.

"Moy syn, I am your father." Nikita said his hand touching the screen tracing the features of the son he hadn't seen since he was five.

 


	7. Chapter 7

Callen looked at the man on the screen, he was not sure if he was lying but he did look like an older grayer version of him.

"My…My Father?" Callen asked.

Nikita nodded, "I am already on a plane and we will meet soon I promise, I should be touching down nearby in a few hours, Arkady…your uncle, has been given orders to look after you. There is so much I want to say to you, so much I want to know and I'm sure you have the same request of me…I will let you get some more rest and food, I know you have been asleep for a week. I look forward to seeing you soon my son."

Callen stared at the screen as the connection ended and he looked up at a beaming Arkady.

"My uncle?" Callen asked.

Arkady's smile threatened to split his face in two, "Yes, you are moy plemyannik; you are my nephew…your father is my brother, Of course I have a different surname, it is dangerous to have Reznikov as a surname in the US or back home in the motherland."

Charlie walked in and handed him a drink, the same scotch, as he had ordered the night before…no not the night before a week before he thought and he took it with a shaky hand.

"Thank you." He said to her.

Charlie kissed his cheek and Callen nodded he didn't want to disappoint her but he didn't feel anything towards her at all.

Callen got up and walked to the window, the view of the green rolling hills was calming, but the two men outside with a machine gun gave him the impression that he was a prisoner. He thought about asking to use the phone, but calling Hetty was really low on the questions that were rolling around in his head right now.

He took a sip of the drink and turned to the grey haired man behind him.

"Tell me?" Callen asked, all thoughts of his mission flying out the window, "Tell me who I am. Tell me about my family."

Arkady motioned for Callen to sit on the couch and turned to Charlie, "May we have the room my dear, also could you tell my wife to cancel tonight's meeting, this is more important." He said.

Charlie nodded and shut the door behind her.

* * *

"How do I know all this is true, I mean…he looks like me, says he knows my name, but I don't know my name so I can't even tell if he's right or not…Now you say you're my uncle and you know I'm an Agent, so am I a prisoner?" he asked.

"No…although we are not sure if you are really straight and this is a coincidence or if you are gay and this is a trap…after you have met your father, you may make your choice. Stay or leave, if you leave we will knock you out and you will wake up unharmed in your own home. If you choose to stay…well we will see." Arkady replied sitting on the couch across from him.

Arkady looked at the emotions swirling in Callen's eyes, eyes that were so much like his own and his brothers.

"What do you want to know?" Arkady asked him.

"What were my parents like?" Callen asked.

Arkady looked at him, "You were five when the containment teams incarcerated your father and killed your mother. What do you remember of them?" he asked.

Callen shook his head. "Nothing, I have no memory of my parents, my first memory was…" he stopped and took a large gulp of his drink.

"I was about five or six, I was in a house…I didn't know where I was and I woke up in a bed…My head was bruised and my arm was broken. There was a man…he spoke funny, and he smelled funny, he said I was a throw away kid, that my mothers or fathers probably didn't want me, I must have been defective as the new birth center hadn't even given me a real name….just….just G."

"You always had a real name…Gregori…I do not know how you lost it, you were always loved and there is nothing defective about you." Arkady told him looking in his eyes to let him know he was speaking the truth.

"But…" Callen thought about his next question, if this man was his uncle…he would know wouldn't he. "If you've been here, in America all this time, why didn't you take me out of foster care, why didn't you or my father come looking for me?"

"We have been looking for you…this group…one of the aims of this group was to genetically test new members in the hope that either you or your sister would find us, we didn't know what names you were using, we had looked for years using your names, but neither yours nor Amelia's came up."

"Amy…my sister's name was Amy." Callen said.

Arkady shook his head, "I was there when your mother gave birth to her, and her name was Amelia Nadia Callen-Reznikov." He stated.

"They told me her name was Amy Callen…" he said quietly.

"Whoever took you and your sister to America, must have tried to help you by changing your names…I do not know why however, unless they didn't want your father to find you." Arkady said.

"Can I see it…the DNA proof…I mean, how do I know that you're not lying to me?" Callen asked.

Arkady sighed, "Young people these days so untrusting." He said as he walked over to his desk and pulled a file from the top, "Here…the top is yours and the second is your father's."

Callen took the file, he did not really know a lot about genetics. However, even he could see where the lines all matched up and there were many matches. He looked at the line at the top.

_**G. Callen – N. Reznikov 50% match. 99.99% familial DNA** _

_**G. Callen – A. Kolcheck. 25% Match. 99.99% Familial DNA.** _

There was no denying it, he was this Reznikovs son and the man sitting across from him was his uncle.

He dropped the folder on the coffee table and paced the room.

* * *

How could this have gone so wrong? He was supposed to be here to take this group down and throw the leaders in jail. Now he was faced with the fact that if he did that he was condemning the only family he had…well blood related and was betraying the family he'd built for himself over the years.

Arkady studied him, "If you decide not to join us all we ask is that you do not tell anyone who the leaders of NBSCA or NBSCW are. I have already said we will return you unharmed…Maybe after you meet with your father you will see what we do here is not as bad as the media think."

"You kill people!" Callen snapped remembering Sam and Michael's son.

"No we do not." Arkady stood and faced his nephew.

"The new birthing center, a few years ago….Are you telling me that wasn't your group?" Callen snapped, "My friend lost a child in that bombing!"

"It wasn't us…there was no bombing…" Arkady argued, "We did take some women from the center and we brought them here, no one died, the government covered it up…blamed us to make us seem like terrorists."

"My friend's son, Sam Hanna's child…he died."

"Oh Jacob Hanna!" Arkady smiled, "He is fine, and he and his mother live here on the compound."

"What?" Callen looked shocked, "Sam's son is alive?"

"He is Michelle Mason's son, she kept her son's last name Hanna…She apparently bore another child for the couple, Rachel I believe…She met Mr. Hanna on Rachel's hand over, although she was distraught at the loss of her child she found Mr. Hanna to be a nice kind man."

"It wasn't her child, she's a thing, a brood mare…Livestock." Callen answered by rote.

Arkady looked at his nephew sadly. "Do you really believe that?" he asked.

Callen thought about it, he wanted to nod his head, "I was told they couldn't think, they could bear children but were too docile to be…normal people."

Arkady sighed, "Come with me you need to meet Michelle Mason." He said, "She runs our school here."

* * *

Callen followed as his uncle walked out of the main house and he could see he was in some sort of compound, there was a shop, a library, a gym…a large barn and what looked like a school with a playground and a few homes nearby.

A small group of children all around 3 years old were playing on the play equipment with a dark skinned woman watching them.

"Hello Michelle." Arkady said.

"Arkady?" Michelle smiled at him, "What brings you here?"

"I am showing my nephew around." He smiled.

Callen stared at her, he could see Rachel's features in this woman, it wasn't true what people were told, the brood mares were people, real people…Not mindless women who just produced children.

"Hello, my name is Michelle." She said extending her hand, "I run the school here, do you have a child?" she asked.

Callen shook his head, "No…er…No I don't."

A small boy…a carbon mini copy of Sam came running up to the woman, "Momma…it's nearly time for me to ring the bell." He told her.

Michelle smiled, "Of course Jacob…here you go." She handed him a brass bell which he shook and the children lined up. "I have to go back to class now Mr.?"

"Callen." He replied with a smile.

Michelle smiled back, "Maybe we could meet sometime and talk…I assume from the shock on your face you expected me to be brain dead livestock such as the government would have the population believe."

Callen nodded, "Yes I did…I am glad I'm wrong."

Michelle waved the children in and looked over at Callen sadly. "I only wish we had been able to rescue the rest of the women, it is horrible in those camps and my only crime was being a natural born child and a straight woman." She stopped and waited for the look of disgust that usually accompanied that statement.

"That's wrong…I…I think I'd like to help…I'm straight and I have natural parents. I work for the government, NCIS actually…well I did…" Callen stopped as Michelle put a hand on his arm.

"I really would love to talk to you about this, maybe over dinner?" she looked hopeful.

Callen jumped at the feeling her touch caused him, "I think I'd like that." He smiled.

She smiled back, the smile lit up her face and to Callen it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

Arkady coughed not really wanting to break up the moment.

"Callen is meeting his father tonight, why don't you join us tomorrow at the main house for dinner, bring Jacob." Arkady offered.

"Nikita is coming here?" Michelle smiled, "Jacob will be pleased he hasn't seen Papa Nikki for six months."

"Papa Nikki?" Callen asked with a smile.

"Nikita Reznikov loves children, he lost two…oh, I suppose you are one of them? Well, he treats all the youngsters like his own children and they love him so much."

Callen smiled as Michelle turned to join her class and he walked back slowly with Arkady.

* * *

"So…My father is really a good man?" he asked awed at what he had learned.

Arkady grinned at the light in his nephew's eyes.

"Yes…and Michelle is a good woman…but Charlie?" he asked.

Callen stopped dead, he'd forgotten all about her.

He took a deep breath. "Charlie was a mark…she was a way for me to get in with you all. I didn't know…" he stopped and sat on a nearby bench and put his head in his hands, "I can't do it, I can't turn you all in…not now I know everything about you all is a lie."

Arkady smiled. "Gregori, you are welcome to stay here, Charlie knew you were looking for the group, she will have no hard feelings, she has taken many who have tried to infiltrate the group…a few have stayed but most are found after a few days."

"Yes." Callen snapped, "You guys killed them, they were LAPD and they were found dead."

Arkady looked up, "Dead? No…when we dropped them off they were all alive, although the last man we dropped back, he was picked up by the containment team soon afterwards…Are you telling me they are  _ **all**_  dead?!"

Callen nodded.

 


	8. Chapter 8

Arkady strode off leaving Callen standing there stunned.

"I…wait…!" Callen ran off after him, "You didn't know they were dead?"

Arkady turned sharply, "No…we do not kill people we are not terrorists."

"Tell me everything," Callen put his hand on his uncle's arm, "Tell me on the record, so no one can accuse you again."

Arkady looked at him for a moment and motioned to one of his bodyguards nearby. "Have Michelle Mason and Jacob Hanna come to my office." He said and nodded to his nephew, "I will, we can record the interview."

Callen walked with Arkady back to his office.

He opened the computer on his desk and turned it to face the two of them.

Callen pressed record on the computer. "This is an interview with special Agent G Callen and Arkady Kolcheck," he added the date and time but omitted the location and Arkady sent him a small nod of thanks.

"Are you Arkady Kolcheck? Leader of the NBSCA?" he asked.

Arkady nodded, "We need you to talk for the camera." Callen prodded gently.

"Da…yes…yes I am." He replied.

"And at this time do you waive your right for counsel, with the proviso that if so needed counsel will be provided for your later?"

"Da… Yes."

"Arkady Kolcheck, you have been charged with masterminding the bombing and murders of broodmares and children at the breeding centers, do you want to tell me what happened?" Callen looked relaxed and nodded in Arkady's direction.

"A few years ago we found a location of a site where the government was using women to birth babies for people against their will."

"It is on record that brood mares do not have feelings and emotions and that they do not have the mental capacity to do anything but birth children," Callen said.

Arkady bristled and then noticed the look that Callen was sending him. "That is not true, these women who are held in these centers are as smart and capable as you or I and their only crimes were to be natural born or straight."

"The government tells us different, they say that all the women in that attack were killed by a bomb planted by your group."

Arkady nodded, "I know what the government said, but they are wrong, we did not kill the women that left, apart from those who wanted to stay here in our community, the rest were sent home, like the detectives that infiltrated our organization, some have stayed and a few were returned home, unharmed."

"The undercover officers that you sent home were all found dead." Callen told him.

Arkady took a deep breath and steeled himself for his next move, "We have proof that all were unconscious but alive when we left them, I have discs showing all the men alive, we wanted proof that they had been dropped off safely, everyone who has come here, including yourself has been given the choice to stay with us and help build a new tomorrow, or to be sedated, as no one knows where we are, and dropped off unharmed in a motel in Los Angeles. They are left with food, water and a prepaid cell phone so they can call for help as soon as the sedative in their system wears off."

* * *

Callen turned to the camera, "Hetty, I'll send the discs along with this." He turned back to Arkady, "Arkady, you say that the government lied about your attack on the birthing Center, can you please clarify what you meant by that?"

Arkady nodded and waved a hand off screen where Michelle and Jacob were waiting, "A few of the mothers that escaped came with us, they did not all die as you were told." He stood up to allow Michelle to sit down.

"This is Michelle Mason, she is our schoolteacher, and mother to Jacob Hanna. Son of Special Agent Sam Hanna."

"Hi…" Michelle said to the camera with a smile, "I am straight, and for this crime the government locked me up in a birthing center. We are artificially inseminated by a strangers sperm, as soon as we are confirmed pregnant we are moved to a room where we are forcibly strapped to a bed We are not allowed to touch the child that grows within us," She wiped a tear and reached for Jacob who climbed onto his mother's lap and sucked his thumb. We are only allowed to touch our stomachs if the person wearing the pregnancy pouch touches him or herself, and the right light lights up on a panel in the wall above our beds. The worst thing is for Nine months we are not allowed to speak or utter a word, if we need to defecate or urinate we have to press a button and wait for an attendant to accompany us to the bathroom to make sure we don't make a sound. It is worse than slavery." Michelle sighed, "I have birthed only one other child, I am lucky, when I had Rachel, Jacobs older sister…Sam Hanna paid the premium to make sure I was the one to bear his other children and no one else's, he…reserved me for the exclusive use of his family."

She wiped a few stray tears from her eyes; Callen wanted to hold her and help ease her pain. "I am one of the lucky ones, Brood mares are not mentally deficient, we do not exist solely to provide couples with children, I was put in the birthing center without trial, because I loved a man…and for no other reason."

* * *

Callen hit pause on the recording, "Thank you Michelle." He said looking into her deep brown eyes."

She gave a small smile, "Thank you, Callen…"

She stood up and lay Jacob who had now fallen asleep on the couch.

"Why do you both not take a break, I will watch Jacob." Arkady said.

Michelle nodded and Callen followed as she led the way to the kitchen, grabbed two cans of soda and headed out the back to the gardens behind the house.

"Do you think Agent Hanna will take Jacob from me for doing this?" Michelle asked.

Callen shook his head, "I know Sam…we…worked together, I know he was devastated at the loss of his son, but he has a huge heart and I think he'd rather let Jacob stay where he's happy." Callen wasn't sure if he was lying or not, but he hoped not.

Michelle walked away from the house to a small copse of trees, "This is my favorite spot." She admitted, she sat on the dapple shaded ground and leant against a tree, "It's like a mini woodland."

Callen smiled as she watched her open her soda and take a drink, the cool soda dripping down her skin. He coughed as he lost focus.

"It is nice here." He replied agreeably.

"So…are you seeing anyone?" Michelle asked with a smiled.

Callen shook his head, "I am here on assignment, I was tasked with infiltrating and exposing the NBSCA."

Michelle stopped drinking and turned to look at him, "Are you going too?" she asked.

"I….I don't want to…I mean…Nikita and Arkady, they are my family, but, I have my duty." He dropped his head onto his knees, "I feel torn." He sighed.

Michelle put her drink down and turned to face him, "Don't do what you are told is right just because someone tells you it is…think about it, find out more information and trust your instincts."

He turned to find himself eye to eye with her, "Trust your instincts?" he said repeating what he'd just heard.

She found herself smiling into his blue eyes. "That's what they…." She stopped as he silenced her with a kiss.

"…Say…" she breathed after they were done.

"I'm sorry; I just wanted to do that ever since I met you." Callen said.

Michelle smiled, "Me too." She reached out and grabbed his shirt and pulled him in for another kiss.

Callen laughed as they parted, "You know I think I like this assignment."

Michelle nodded as he held her, "What do you plan on doing?" she asked.

"I will send what I have so far to Hetty and then tomorrow I will meet my father, with the woman I have some deep feelings for by my side." Callen said honestly.

"What do you think this Hetty will do, can she be trusted?"

"She kept my secret about being natural born for my whole life even from me, to protect me, she was married to my mother; before she met my father."

"Are you looking forward to meeting him?" Michelle asked.

"Who my father?" Callen asked. "Yeah…I am, and I'm nervous and scared…and…you should be a therapist, I have told you more about me in the last five minutes than most people know."

Michelle shrugged, "I am a mother, we are born interrogators." She laughed, "Jacob can't keep secrets either…" her face fell, "I don't know what I'd do if I lose him."

Callen looked into her sad eyes, "I will do everything in my power to protect you and your son." He promised.

And he meant it, he had no idea why, but that woman and her son were the most important two people in the world to him at that moment.

 


	9. Chapter 9

It had been 2 weeks since Callen had gone missing.

Sam was storming around the bullpen like a bear with a sore head, snapping at everyone especially Deeks who was still feeling guilty for losing him while they had been on assignment. Sam had once or twice voiced that he was sure that Callen was not coming back; either the NBSCA had recruited him or killed him.

Hetty looked through her mail when a disc addressed personally to her fell out of an envelope with a note from Callen attached.

"Listen to the DVD, don't let the others see it yet, Hetty…I have found my family. The NBSCA is not the group we thought it was, watch it alone…its important especially to Sam that you see this before he does. Trust me please. Gregori."

Hetty took the disc and walked up to ops.

"Everybody out." She ordered, everyone but Eric got up and left, "Mr. Beale you as well please…" she smiled kindly at him as he slowly got up the weight on the pregnancy pouch making it hard to move as his due date was nearer. "Go…have a early lunch with your husband, and ask Mr. Deeks to come up here as soon as you are back."

Eric smiled, "Thank you Hetty."

He left and she watched through the slats as Eric grabbed Deeks by the hand and pulled him out of the mission.

She walked over to the computer and hit the button to secure ops.

* * *

In the bullpen both Sam and Kensi looked up at the slats slamming shut.

"Hetty and Nell must be onto something." Sam stated looking over at Kensi.

Nell walked around the corner, "Who's onto what?" she asked.

"You're not upstairs with Hetty?" Kensi asked looking over at her girlfriend.

Nell looked stunned and shook her head, "Nope not me, she must be with Beale."

Sam laughed, "Not unless she's snuck him back in the office she just sent him and Deeks off for lunch."

Nell shrugged, "That's nice, Eric was hoping to get some time with Marty before they collect the baby from the birthing center."

Sam sighed, "I remember when Michael and I picked up Rachel from the birthing center, best day ever, you two thought about applying to become parents?" he asked.

Kensi looked at Nell who shrugged, "We hadn't yet, figured we'd get married first, you know do it right, my father's would die If we applied before we were married." Nell admitted.

"You're father's are traditionalists?" Sam asked.

Nell nodded as Kensi turned to him, "My mothers were too, Julia still is she holds out for us to have a traditional wedding, you know the white dresses and the whole church thing."

Sam laughed, "My mothers were like that too…oh my God you should have seen them go overboard when Michael and I were married, His mothers are Jewish…so you can imagine how they were!"

Nell shot a look up at Ops, it was not like Hetty to use the facilities in there without either her or Eric providing back up.

The slats opened and Hetty, ashen faced came down the stairs and headed to her office.

Sam stood up and walked over to her, "Are you alright?" he asked worried for her.

"I am fine, Mr. Hanna…please continue with your hunt to find Ms Moore's killer and send Mr. Deeks into me when he gets back, I will be in Mr. Getz office." She said hurriedly as her cell phone rang.

She shut and locked the door before answering the call.

"Mr. Callen…It's been a while." She said her voice neutral as her hands shook she sat slowly in the chair as he filled her in on what had happened to him in the last week.

* * *

Callen had dozed off in Michelle's arms under the tree listening to her heartbeat as the sun beat down on the pair of them.

"Greg?" Michelle said as she moved.

Callen stirred but did not wake.

"Callen?" she tried again.

He woke up and smiled, kissing her again. "Hey there, sorry, I can't believe I fell asleep like that…although I love the view." He admitted looking into her dark brown eyes.

"Sorry I had to wake you." She said the regret in her tone audible, "I can hear cars, I think Nikita is here. Jacob will want to meet him."

Callen sat up and brushed a piece of grass from his jeans, "I'm scared…" Callen said to himself.

"Nikita is a wonderful man, Jacob loves him, all the children do, and he's a natural father." Michelle told him.

Callen stood up and held out his hand to help her up. "Yeah but…" he shrugged, "Better get this over with." He sighed as she stood.

She turned and pulled him into a kiss, "You will be fine, Gregori…I already love you and I haven't known you for very long."

Callen laughed, "It's just my natural charm."

She led him back to the house and got there just as Arkady got to the door, "Your father is here, he would like to meet you alone." He said.

Callen nodded although he did not let go of Michelle's hand.

"Greg…it's ok, I will be here when you are finished," he pulled her into a hug and held her tight.

"Thank you…by the way…I think I love you too." He said kissing her forehead.

She smiled and headed off to check on her son.

The door to the room where Arkady had first met him was closed, and there were two armed men outside.

Callen looked at Arkady worried, "You could just kill me…but not here…not where Jacob and Michelle can see, let them know I left…she doesn't need to…"

"Stop!" Arkady exploded a smile on his face. "We are not going to kill you Nephew, do you not know this now. These men are your father's bodyguards; I understand you do not trust. But no one will harm you."

Arkady knocked once and opened the door, giving his nephew a gentle shove he pushed him in and closed the door.

The man stood with his back to him, watching as Michelle, with a sleepy Jacob in her arms headed back to her quarters.

"She is a good woman son; she would make a good match with you." He said not turning around.

Callen stood there, scrutinizing the man in front of him, trying to see what about him, screamed father to him.

Nikita turned around and Callen gasped, the eyes were his eyes, he had seen them before on the Skype call but here in person in front of him. He was stunned, this was real, and this man was his father.

"Gregori, Moy syn…" he took a step towards Callen but stopped as his son took a step back.

Callen blinked but said nothing; he opened his mouth a few times, wanting to say something. Hell he wanted to move, to run, but he could not.

"It's alright son." Nikita said he took another step towards his son.

"Don't…" Callen croaked out, his voice cracking.

Nikita looked hurt, he had been looking for his children ever since they had been taken and his beloved Clara killed, and now he had found his son. However, his son it seemed didn't want him.

Callen could not stop the tears that fell, he wasn't embarrassed but he was angry.

"Why? Why you…I was supposed to put a stop to this, to take down the head of the NBSCA and bring him in…and it's you?" There was so much anger and accusation in his voice that Nikita recoiled with the force of it.

"Then take me son." Nikita held out his arms, "I will not fight you,"

Callen looked at him in surprise, "I…I can't…I know it's wrong…but I can't I agree with what you are doing here." He sank into a plush armchair and put his head in his hands, "I'm not the sort of son you want Nikita…I…I'm straight…I'm wrong…"

Nikita watched and realized his son was sobbing.

"There is nothing wrong with you son…" he said crouching down and putting his hand on his son's shoulder.

"But…I'm not gay…being straight…it's unnatural…it's wrong…when I go back it will all come out and I know that as soon as they know I am natural born, I will lose my job and my home."

"Then don't go back."

 


	10. Chapter 10

"Then don't go back," Nikita said again reinforcing his statement to his son.

Callen looked up at him.

"I want to go back...dad…" he paused and shifted position so he and his father were face to face, "I love my job." he gave a resigned laugh.

"I loved my job, now everything is falling around my ears, I can't do it can I?" he asked, "I can't go back now, the government will now know that I am a natural born...She can't hide me…" Callen stopped and looked up horrified, "They are going to find out, they'll kill her!" he exclaimed standing up, "I need to go back, for her."

"If you go back and they haven't found out that this woman has helped you then going back could put her in danger." Nikita counselled.

"I told her...Hetty, I told her on the DVD I sent that I wasn't coming back, I told her I couldn't." He admitted, "I want to stay, with Michelle and Jacob,"

Nikita smiled and moved to the chair opposite his son. Leaning across the table he poured two drinks.

"Then stay, if in the future you need to go back, then by all means do so, but stay here help us in our work." He offered.

"But if the containment team find out Hetty helped hide me for all these years...they'll send her to Gitmo." he argued worried for her.

"Hetty Lange?" Nikita asked.

Callen nodded, "You know her?" he asked.

Nikita smiled, "She was your mothers ex-wife, Clara contacted her to get you and your sister out of Romania, but I thought she had died."

"No," Callen told his father, "She remarried and her wife works in the DNA marker testing center, she is the reason I had no idea I was natural born until recently. She's been changing my test results so that I wouldn't suffer the same fate as Amy, they tried with her but didn't know about the genetic markers until the containment team had Amy thrown onto the streets, she died when she was eleven in a storm," he admitted, looking away ashamed as he told his father of his sisters death.

"I knew moy syn, this is why I started the NBSCA over here, I was fighting the injustice I was seeing in Europe, but it needed to be dealt with over here as well, I know that some people in government departments have been helping where they can behind the scenes, but I never for one moment hoped that you would have made it alive and in a position in a government agency."

Callen took a sip of the drink in his hand.

"OK, I'm in and I'll help, but I need to call Hetty and tell her."

Nikita nodded and left the room so that Callen could make the call.

* * *

He talked to Hetty, shed a few tears but basically he told her he wasn't coming back, to get the files she had on him and the NBSCA and get them to him for her own safety.

Hetty had walked over in Nate's office to the filing cabinet and taken out all the files on Callen that she had.

"Are you sure you want to do this Mr. Callen?" Hetty asked her voice shaking, "There are other avenues," She closed the cabinet and locked it with her key.

"Someone in there is feeding information to the containment team, I have been told someone has burned my identity to the containment team and it might be dangerous for me to come back anyway." He informed her, it had been a shock to him when he'd heard that from his uncle, but felt he needed to tell her so they didn't kill her or worse.

Hetty's hands shook as she put the file in her bag, "I will leave immediately and bring this file to you, it will be safer with you than here. Do you know who is it that is working with the containment teams?" She asked.

"No." Callen shook his head even though she couldn't see him, "No, Just leave I'm texting you the address memorize and wipe it, get here as soon as you can and tell no one."

Hetty put a few more files into her bag, "I'm on my way." she said quietly and walked to the office door hanging up her phone.

The door opened and Hetty saw a door down the hallway close.

Taking her bag to the office she tried not to let her nervousness show, and as usual she was a master at it.

She stepped on her stool and took her jacket down from the peg, putting it on and walking to her desk drawer she pulled out two envelopes. One was a plain white manilla envelope which contained a new set of identities for both her and her wife, and an older cardboard envelope which had red lettering on it, this envelope needed to get to it's recipient as soon as possible.

She placed her chair back and took a last look at her office, recalling the times she had spent there in the past. With a small sigh she turned and walked out.

"Something is going on," Sam said watching Hetty walk around her office write something on a piece of paper and put it in her pocket.

"Something is." Kensi agreed, "You think Callen is in trouble?" she asked.

"She doesn't usually look that scared." Sam admitted, we need to follow her." he decided.

Deeks stood up after Hetty walked out, "Come on then, if she's being coerced we need to be her back up, that's what Callen would have done."

He waited as Kensi caught up to them, "I'll drive we'll take my car," Sam stated as they went out of the door, determined to follow Hetty to her destination.

As they went Nell watched them go and picked up the phone.

* * *

Hetty was so consumed with getting to the address that Callen had texted her that she had actually let her guard down and she didn't notice the black challenger tailing her, after all it was a car she saw all the time.

Sam followed at a discreet distance as Kensi was talking to Eric and Nell on her phone.

"She has played a DVD, the drawer is still open," Nell ran down to Hetty's office there was a pad with a sheet of paper torn from the top, "there is a scrap of paper, hang on…" She grabbed a pencil and gently rubbed it over the indentations, "I can't read all of it, but it's in Inyo national forest and I can read Black mountain." she said.

"Why would she be going there?" Deeks asked.

Nell looked at the paper turning it to see if she could make out any more words.

"I can see the words Callen….er...NSBCA...Danger!" she exclaimed at the last word.

Sam put his foot down a bit more trying to keep up with the faster moving Jaguar, "Callen's in danger?" he asked, "We need to get there, the NSBCA are dangerous, they have killed before, they could have blown his cover and be holding him hostage,"

Both Kensi and Deeks checked their guns, "Do you have vests in the trunk?" Kensi asked.

Sam nodded grimly as his hands tightened on the wheel.

He didn't want his last words with his partner to have been an argument.

* * *

Callen walked outside and found his father leaning against a fence as the sun started to go down. He found his eyes straying down the street to the house where Michelle and Jacob lived. He smiled as Michelle stepped out of her front porch and walked toward them.

"I have someone watching Jacob for the night," she told Callen at his questioning glance.

He smiled as she snuggled into the arm he held out for her.

"It is beautiful here." Nikita said watching as the stars started to come out.

"It is," His son agreed pulling Michelle in closer as she lay her head on his shoulder. "I told Hetty where we were, she's on her way, it's for her own safety, someone in the office may realise that she knew about me and they may send her to Gitmo, it's where they send all conspirators," Michelle nodded sadly, My friend Joelle, she helped me when she knew I was straight, she hid me from the Containment teams, they took her away to Gitmo, I never saw her again." she told them sadly.

"This is wrong moy syn, do you see that, people should be free to be who they are, to love who they want to love, they are not hurting anyone, you see? This is what we are fighting for." he told his son.

Callen nodded, "I can see that now father."

Nikita smiled, "I know, I look forward to meeting Hetty, it will be nice to put a face to a name I know so much about." He smiled at his son, "You two go and have a nice time together, I will greet your Hetty when she gets here and will get a room ready for her."

Michelle giggled as Callen shot his father a smirk and grabbed her hand running for the house.

 


	11. Chapter 11

Callen awoke his arms wrapped around Michelle, he sighed in contentment and found himself snuggling into her neck.

"Morning Greg." she sighed, "What's the time?"

Callen looked over at the bedside clock, "7.30am, we need to get up, you have to pick up Jacob later." he said kissing her and rolling away to sit up.

Michelle groaned, "It was a great night Greg,"

G looked at her, "But….?" he asked his heart constricting.

She looked confused, "But nothing? It was a great night, and I meant what I said, I love you Gregori Callen Reznikov."

He let out a brilliant smile and pulled her to him, "I love you too, Michelle Mason, and Jacob as well."

She pulled his shirt on and sat cross legged on the bed, "So you're staying?" she asked.

Callen nodded as he stood up, "I am...if I went back it wouldn't be long before the containment team sent me to Guantanamo, I have fam...family here." He stumbled over the word as his throat constricted with emotion. "I know they don't want me there so, yes, I'm staying." he grabbed a towel from the closet, "I'm gonna grab a shower, Hetty is on her way down and I want to be ready when she gets here, you rest...I won't be long."

Michelle smiled and stood up, "I need a shower too...got room for one more?" She asked innocently and burst into laughter as he grabbed her hand and pulled her to him.

* * *

Hetty was tired, she had been driving all night and she turned up the dirt road leading to the NBSCA camp, not noticing the van with no lights that followed.

"There is no one following her," Sam said, "Are we sure that this is where Callen is?"

They pulled over as Hetty stopped and got out of the car at a checkpoint, she stood her arms outstretched as she was searched.

"We need to ditch the van and do the rest of this on foot." Kensi said.

The sun was a third of the way across the sky as Hetty and her escort reached the house. Kensi Deeks and Sam followed at a distance but hadn't been spotted.

"It's like a self contained compound down there." Sam said as he looked through his field glasses at the buildings in the small valley.

He watched as Hetty was taken to a large house, she stopped and Sam watched as a dark skinned woman carrying a small child walked up to her and said something. She nodded and walked inside.

We've lost sight of her, Kensi, you take the perimeter, Deeks and I will go to the house, we need to get her out of there.

They came down the side of the valley, the scant brush giving them just enough cover so as not to be seen.

Deeks put a finger to his lips and pointed as two men walked out of the house.

"Arkady...we have to do this. We cannot continue as we have been, it is time for change, the authorities know where we are, Gregori may trust the woman, but she may be a spy, Gregori will get it out of her."

"Nikita, you cannot hurt her, Gregori trusts her."

"I have no intention of breaking my son's trust, but we need to know if we are to move operations." Nikita sighed, he looked directly at the bush that Sam and Deeks were hiding behind but saw nothing. Then he turned and walked back into the house.

Sam looked at the windows, there were men with guns in the house and he took note of where they were, then he saw Callen.

Callen walked out of the back of the house and sat on the porch with a mug of coffee in his hand. The woman they had seen earlier followed him out and kissed him, he took the child from her arms and sat with him on his lap.

Jacob held his hands out as Callen gave him a small square of toast and he chomped on it.

"Dadadadada." he gurgled happily holding the chewed piece of toast out to Callen.

Callen laughed, and Sam and Deeks looked at each other confused, he looked really happy.

There was a crash from inside the house, Callen gave Jacob to Michelle and pulled his gun, "Stay safe." He told her, he kissed them both and went into the house.

* * *

Michelle gathered her son up and hurried him away from the house, not noticing the two men who were heading towards her.

She stopped as she walked into the large muscular man, "Shh...we won't hurt you." he said pointing his gun at her.

She moved her son out of the line of fire, "Who...who are you?" she asked worried.

"Federal Agents." Sam said holding out his badge for her to see.

She shook her head in fear and turned to run, "You're not taking my baby." she screamed in terror.

Sam held his gun on her, "Ma'am...please...I…."

He stopped as an angry voice came from behind him, "Put the gun down Sam." Callen growled his own gun levelled at his ex-partner's head.

Deeks levelled his gun at Callen but his hand wavered as Sam turned to him.

"What the hell G? You can't have decided to side with them…?"

"Put the gun down Sam or I swear to God I will shoot you if you harm either of them."

"G, I'm not gonna hurt them, but I'm not dropping my gun." Sam growled.

"I think you should though." Kensi said placing the barrel of her gun in the small of Callen's back for a second.

Callen looked at Michelle, worried for the fear he saw on her face, "I'm sorry." he said as he dropped his gun and raised his hands.

Sam moved towards Michelle as Deeks zip tied Callen's hands behind his back. "Leave them alone!" Callen cried as he struggled to get to them.

"I'm not going to hurt them G, but we are all going to go inside." Sam replied.

"Please, I'm begging you Sam, let them go, they've done nothing to you...please...Jacob is just a baby...you can't turn them in."

Sam shot him a look of annoyance, "They've brainwashed you G, you can't honestly think any of this is normal!" Sam exclaimed ushering him toward the house, "Besides with the kid here there's less chance of someone shooting at us."

"You wouldn't want that…" Callen mumbled as he walked up the steps and Kensi opened the door to the house.

"Where's Hetty?" Sam asked as they walked inside.

"In the study." Callen replied curtly and nodded towards the room where he had had his own life changed just days earlier.

Sam walked up to the door, "Get them to open the door," Sam hissed. "Deeks you take the rear, you're gonna be a father soon, you shouldn't be in the firing line, Eric would never forgive me."

Callen laughed, "Says the man who is using his own son as a shield."

"Shut up…" Sam snapped, he had no idea what Callen was talking about but if he had been turned he wasn't about to listen to the straight lies that Callen would come out with.

He undid Callen's hands, "Get us in there and no funny stuff G."

* * *

Callen knocked on the door, "Papa...we have guests." He called and winced as Sam put the gun up to his head, "I said no funny stuff….what the hell G!"

The door opened and he was shocked to see a pair of eyes as blue as the ones belonging to his ex-partner staring at him.

"Sam Hanna, Martin Deeks and Kensi Blye...Yes come on in, Henrietta said you would be along shortly." Nikita stepped back to let them in.

They walked in to find two men sitting at a large desk with a pot of tea in the center of it.

"Where is Hetty?" Kensi asked noticing her absence.

"Upstairs freshening up from her long journey, would you care to join us for some tea?" Arkady asked.

Two men behind the door pointed their guns at them and the team relinquished their weapons.

"You double crossed us?" Kensi asked looking at Callen shocked.

G shook his head, "No...you won't be hurt, but I needed the guns gone from around Jacob, he's just a baby...Sam...This is Jacob Hanna, your son." He said handing the child to his biological father.

Michelle moved to stand with her hand on Callen's arm, she trusted him and knew he wouldn't do anything to harm her son, and he hoped beyond hope that Sam Hanna was the man she had been told he was.

 


	12. Chapter 12

Sam held the wriggling child in his arms and looked at him carefully. "My...son?" He asked amazed, "But...my son died?"

He looked again this child was the spitting image of his Rachel at that age. Jacob reached out to his father, "Daddy?" Jacob asked looking at his mom for a reply.

With tears in her eyes she nodded, "Yes baby that's your daddy."

Jacob looked at Callen, "No Daddy...G Daddy." he said pouting in a way that left Sam in no doubt that it was his son.

Callen moved forward a step his hands still tied, "No Jacob, Sam is your daddy."

Jacob wriggled out of Sam's grasp and ran towards Callen grabbing him around the leg, "No...G Daddy…" He insisted.

Callen shook off Deeks' hand on his arm and crouched to his knee. "Jacob, I love you and I love your mommy, but Sam is your daddy, look at your hands, you have the same hands as Sam."

Jacob looked at his hand and he walked up and put his hand in Sam's, "Same daddy?" he asked.

Sam teared up, "Yes...yes Jacob we have the same." he lifted him up and hugged him.

He looked over at a very worried Michelle, "Thank you." Sam said, "For keeping him for me and not letting him go into the system."

Michelle shifted uneasily, "Please...don't take him from me, he's all I have." she pleaded.

"I…"

"I think Mr. Hanna, this is something that we should all talk about in length," Hetty said walking into the room.

* * *

Nikita turned to the group, "I have a large breakfast coming I hope you will join us in the dining room for breakfast, I made arrangements if you wish for you to stay for a while."

"Until you kill us?" Deeks asked thinking of the undercover officers.

"We haven't killed anyone Deeks, they were all alive when they were sent back, they were supposed to highlight our cause, they can hardly do that if they are dead now can they?" Callen said.

"Our cause?" Deeks asked. "Have you joined them?"

Arkady and Nikita looked up in interest at his answer.

Callen stepped away from them and towards Nikita.

"I stand with my family." he stated.

Sam smirked, "See Deeks I told you he wouldn't let us down, we are his family and always will be."

"That's not what I meant Sam, This is my father, Nikita and my uncle Arkady. They run the NSBCA and the NSBCW."

"You don't have a father." Sam argued as Callen picked up the file Arkady had shown him just two weeks before and tossed it to his partner.

Nikita shifted worried about his son.

"DNA doesn't lie." Callen said, "Look at them, look at me, you can see we are related."

"But your loyalty to the government?" Sam argued, "You took an oath."

"Loyalty to family trumps everything, besides someone at Special Projects is sending information to the containment teams, if Hetty or I go back we will be instantly arrested, Hetty will be sent to Guantanamo and I may just end up being killed. So Sam...Do you want to hear us out of condemn me to death?"

* * *

Sam sat down and smiled as Jacob climbed into his lap.

"Convince me that we shouldn't just arrest the lot of you." He said.

Kensi and Deeks sensing a change in the air followed Sam's suit. They weren't sure what was going on but they trusted Sam and they to a lesser degree trusted Callen.

Callen stood behind the chair he motioned Michelle to sit in.

"Sam, guys this is Michelle Mason, she is Jacob and Rachel's' birth mother."

"She's a brood mare?" Deeks asked shocked.

Callen snapped his head around, "No...She was one of them, but the government lied to you, She's as aware and smart as you or I she runs the school here in the compound."

"I don't believe it!" Kensi scoffed.

"I was a fully qualified kindergarten teacher before my arrest." Michelle told them as Callen lay a comforting arm on her shoulder.

Kensi looked at her suspiciously, "What were you arrested for?"

Michelle looked up at Callen sadly, "Falling in love with a man, we were caught together."

"Oh my God that's disgusting!" Kensi snapped.

Callen shot her a look of annoyance.

"No it's not." He snapped back, "It's no more disgusting that you and Nell, Eric and Deeks or Sam and Michael!" he ranted. "It's just love...people can't help who they love."

"But it's not natural…" Kensi argued, "Even the Bible says Adam and Steve not Adam and Eve, I mean...how can you justify it."

Callen turned away from her and took a deep breath trying to calm his temper.

Kensi kept on unabated, "I mean, maybe they can fix you Callen, maybe it's because you are not like us...I mean maybe it's not your fault...after all you were natural born."

" _EXACTLY!_ " Callen shouted, Jacob started to cry and he stopped looking down and the child he had come to care for greatly. "I'm sorry 'Chelle." he said ignoring Kensi's disgusted look and kissing her temple.

"I'll take him outside for a bit." She said.

Sam moved as if to protest but Callen cut him off, "He's not going anywhere Sam, she's his mother she won't hurt him."

"Michael is his co-parent, she's just the broodmare." He snapped, "So, this one has a brain, doesn't mean they all do."

Callen sighed and leaned against his father's desk.

"Be patient moy syn, you cannot expect him to change a lifetime of prejudice in an instant." Nikita said.

Callen nodded, "I know Papa, but…"

"It's not prejudice," Sam argued, "It's the law, remember G? The law you work for and uphold?"

" _ **THE LAW IS WRONG!**_ " Callen shouted and they all looked shocked.

"They've turned you?" Deeks asked.

Callen stood up and paced the room, they were all watching him.

"Deeks, when your father's beat you and threw you out for shooting one of them was that right?" Callen asked.

Deeks looked hurt, he had told Callen that in confidence.

"Callen?" he growled.

"No bear with me, but you were picked up and put in a foster home, a nice one right?"

"Yeah, Susan and Lacy Deeks took me in." He admitted, they were nicer than my fathers."

"Where do you think you would have ended up if you were natural born?"

Deeks shrugged, "I suppose the same place, how do I know?"

Callen walked up to the file Nikita had on his desk, and took a picture out of it.

"Look at it." He handed the picture to Deeks, Kensi and Sam leaned over to look as well.

"Cute kid." Deeks admitted looking at the picture of the ten year old blonde girl.

"Her name was Amy." Callen said his voice flat, "That was taken a year before she died."

Kensi looked shocked, "What happened?" she asked.

"She was thrown out onto the streets like trash, by the government, because she and I do not have the genetic markers in our blood that the government inject into the DNA of children created in their laboratories. Because we are natural born."

They looked from the photo to the three devastated men in front of them. "Amy was killed in a flood while she slept in the LA river basin."

Kensi's hand flew to her mouth in shock.

"Her only crime was being born, she didn't ask for her parents to be straight and she didn't to be natural born. She didn't ask for her parents to be in love, but they were. Do you think she deserved to be cast aside and thrown out like trash?"

"No but…" Sam started.

"Sam, you have worked with me for years, until a few weeks ago when you and I found out I was natural born would you have said I was lesser than any of you, I was your team leader."

"Are you not coming back?" Sam asked.

Callen shook his head, "I can't Sam...not yet, I want to but we need to let people know the truth. What the government is doing to people who are straight."

* * *

Deeks' got a sinking feeling in his gut and reached for his weapon.

"You can't be allowed to leave here." He said shakily pointing his gun at Callen, "If you leave...if you tell...Eric and I will lose our son, they'll let the broodmare keep him." Tears stung his eyes, "He's our son...our baby, we can't lose him."

Callen nodded sadly, he had thought about this, and yes some families would be torn apart for a while by this, some people would be hurt but it was for the greater good and he said so.

"Greater good?" Deeks couldn't believe it, "How does our son growing up without us amount to the greater good. Eric and I are his fathers, we are what is best for him. Without the broodmares we will die out as a species, it's always been this way!" he snapped.

"Marty, just because it's always been this way, it does not make it right."

"No but with the head of the NSBCA in the same room as me, if I kill you then the secret dies with you. No one need know about this, my son will be safe."

At that Sam turned pale, "What about my son Deeks, you gonna kill him too?"

Deeks shook his head wildly, "No, you take him home with you Sam, genetically he is your son, there should be no problems. We can say Callen went rogue, he killed them all and Hetty, he's a natural born after all."

Callen stepped in front of his uncle, father and Hetty to protect them, this was all going so wrong.

All he wanted was to expose the corruption and to make people realize his love for Michelle was not wrong. He hadn't wanted this.

"Please, Deeks...we'll help you keep your son." Callen started holding his hand out appealing to him not to shoot.

Deeks had admired Callen for so long and yet now his heart was at war with his head, he loved his husband and he loved his unborn son. Helping Callen and these….people, that could destroy everything, he could lose everything.

He just couldn't take that risk, could he?

 


	13. Chapter 13

Deeks stood holding the gun, he couldn't stop shaking. Callen was his friend and he understood that some of the things he was saying might be true, but this was his child, his baby boy and he and Eric would lose out if he didn't stop him.

"I...I can't Callen...my son…" He tried to explain the turmoil inside him but he couldn't.

"We will help you to be with your son, I know the pain of losing children to his situation." Nikita said.

"You can't promise that." Deeks snapped, "They will throw you in jail."

"And if they do, things will stay the same and you will have your son. If they don't, maybe we can make the change and still help you and your husband to have your son."

"What if his mother will not give him up?" Deeks asked still holding the gun on Nikita's son.

"Not all Brood Mares actually want to keep their children or feel any love towards them, do you know the name of the woman carrying your child?" Arkady asked.

Deeks nodded, out of curiosity Eric had hacked into the system to see if the broodmare looked like them, hoping she had blonde hair like they did. "Celia Blackwood."

Arkady gave a curt nod and picked up the phone.

"Put it down!" Deeks ordered.

"It is not far, I am just asking Michelle to come back in. I promise no….how you say, funny business?" Arkady asked looking to his nephew hoping he had got the saying right.

Callen nodded, "Tell her to leave Jacob with Charlie."

Sam raised an eyebrow at Callen. He knew people well enough to trust them with his son and was giving orders?

Arkady nodded and turned his attention to Deeks, "With your permission?" he asked.

Deeks gave a curt nod, "But no funny business or Callen gets it first."

Arkady shot a worried look to Nikita but dialled.

"I need someone to bring Michelle Mason back to the main house, please ask Charlie if she will watch Jacob for her, it is important." He said and hung up.

"Deeks...please…" Kensi said worried for her friends state of mind.

"Just sit and wait." Deeks growled.

Callen sat in the chair Deeks indicated worried as to what his friend would do when Michelle came in. More than anything he didn't want her hurt.

"Deeks please, you don't need the gun. If 'chelle knows her, she will tell you what you want to know, you don't really want to shoot us do you?"

There was a short rap at the door and Michelle smiled as she stuck her head inside. "You wanted me?"

Her smiled faded as she noticed Deeks in one corner with a gun, she came in and closed the door.

Ignoring the fact that Deeks still had the gun trained on him, Callen moved to protect Michelle who grabbed his hand in fear.

"Greg?" she asked.

"Are you wearing a wire?" Deeks snarled pointing the gun at her.

"Don't be daft, she's been gone all of ten minutes, she had no idea you were holding a gun on us and who the hell would be on the other end, the cops?" Callen sneered derisively.

"Who's Greg?" Deeks asked.

Callen sighed, "I'm Greg, it's my name. You wanted to ask her, she's here so ask her."

Deeks looked at her, "I want the truth woman or I will shoot him." He waved the gun at Callen and Michelle gulped and nodded grabbing G's hand and holding it tight.

"Do you know a Brood mare named Celia Blackwood?"

Michelle thought for a moment and nodded, "Blonde, five-three about 26 years old. Or at least she was when I knew her why?"

"I want to know, if she could keep her child, would she?"

Michelle shook her head sadly, "She never viewed them as children, she always called them parasites. She never wanted children at all, in some ways I think she would have made a bad mother if she had been rescued with us, her children were better off with the allocated parents."

"So...she wouldn't want the child she was carrying now?"

Michelle snorted, Callen smirked at her but she shook her head, "I very much doubt it why?"

"Deeks and Eric are the fathers of the child she is carrying, he was worried that if he helped us he would lose his son." Callen explained.

Michelle shook her head, "You have no fear on that, he would be better off with you. But if you decided to stay and join us that is completely up to you."

Callen took a step forward and held out his hand.

"What do you say Deeks...will you at least listen?"

Deeks sighed and handed Callen the gun, "Don't make me regret this partner."

Callen took the weapon and unloaded it handing his uncle the empty gun.

"You won't and I will help you and Eric get your son."

Deeks sagged onto the couch as Sam moved to give him space.

Michelle sagged next to Callen and he wrapped his arm around her. "How do you do this all the time?" She asked.

He gave her a wry smile, "This?" He asked. "This was always the best part of the job." He laughed and they sat on the opposite couch next to Hetty.

Nikita moved to stand between them and he turned to Deeks and held out his hand. "Thank you for not killing my son."

Deeks shook is weakly, feeling slightly ashamed of his outburst. Of course he should have trusted Callen, but at least no one was blaming him for protecting his child. He wondered how Sam would cope knowing that Jacob was here and not with himself or Michael.

"I...I just…" Deeks stammered unable to adequately explain himself, but Nikita just smiled and nodded totally understanding.

"Let us eat, you will stay overnight in the house as our guests, we will show you our community and then you may decide what you wish to do. We will not fill you with propaganda, just food. Ask any questions you wish from anyone, no one will lie to you here." Nikita replied. He walked to the large double doors and threw them open.

"Come walk around in safety, meet people." He said.

* * *

The team stood up and followed him out to the front of the house where the inhabitants of the compound had gathered.

Nikita stood in front of the group and raised his hands to quieten the hubbub around him.

"Yes, yes my friends you have heard correctly, these people are federal agents." He waited as the hubbub grew again. He waved his arms again. "One is my son, as you all know. We will show them what we are really like, if they ask you any questions please feel free to tell them all you wish and tell them the truth, we have nothing to hide."

The crowd nodded and dispersed.

Slowly the team stepped off the porch and started to walk around.

Michelle looked over at Callen, "Charlie has Jacob tonight, I was wondering, do you think Sam will be wanting to take Jacob from me?"

"I don't know 'Chelle, we'll talk to him, ok? Just let him have a little time to see what we do here...hell you can show me around the bits I've missed so I can see what we do here." He smiled and took her hand the others looking at him like he was crazy to hold a woman's hand in public. But here, finally Callen could be himself and be very much at home.

Watching as he walked off with Michelle the three other team members looked at each other with trepidation.

"Do you really think this is a good idea?" Kensi asked.

"It shouldn't hurt." Deeks admitted, "After all there is a chance that this isn't as bad as it seems...I mean look at G, he looks happy. They all look happy and I don't mean in the crazy Stepford sort of way either."

They looked around and realized that everyone was happy and relaxed. Children ran around laughing and holding hands with their mothers and fathers. None of the children looked deformed or mentally deficient like the propaganda had told them.

* * *

Sam walked up to one of the men sitting with a young girl. "Hello." he said smiling at the girl who was about the same age as his daughter Rachel.

The man looked up at him, "Hi, my name's Todd." He stood up and shook hands with Sam. "This is my daughter Kamran."

"Who's her other father?" He asked looking around.

"Her mother is Symone, she's our doctor."

Sam looked over at the little girl who was tending a flower bed.

"And she's ok? I mean developmentally?"

Todd laughed, "Yes, she's fine. Actually she's slightly gifted, she's ten and she's two grades ahead of her peers."

"Really?" Sam was shocked.

Todd smiled, "Her mother and I are proud of her. Do you have children?"

Sam nodded, "My husband and I have a daughter, Rachel….and Jacob, Michelle Mason's son is mine as well."

"Oh, Jacob is a bright boy, I teach at the schoolhouse with his mother."

"He is?"

Todd nodded, "I teach Drama and Arts, he's a talented youngster. Of course being so young he is into everything right now, he was a pumpkin in the play we did last year, made his mother as proud as punch."

Sam looked at the man who knew his son better than he did. "Jacob really loves it here?"

Todd nodded, "He's a bright and happy boy Sir, you should be proud of him."

Sam smiled, "I think I am."

* * *

Kensi and Deeks walked around the compound and asked a few questions of a few people. Everyone seemed friendly and open towards them.

"It's kinda nice here," Kensi remarked.

"Yeah...for  _Straights_ , these people seem ok." Deeks agreed.

A loud clanging came from a long low building. People stopped and packed up their stuff heading for the low barn.

"Come on guys, it's dinner." Callen said as he walked past them hoisting a giggling Jacob up onto his shoulders heading towards the barn.

"Dinner?" Kensi asked.

Michelle turned as she walked past, "We have a community dinner, once a week, where everyone contributes." she held her tray aloft as if to reiterate her point, "I made peach cobbler, my speciality."

Callen turned and grinned, "You had better save me some babe."

Michelle laughed, "I made one for you and left it at the house for later."

Hetty walked up with Arkady and Nikita together still talking quietly together.

"You ok?" Kensi asked Hetty as they waited for her.

"I am fine Ms Blye, how have you enjoyed your stay so far."

"It's been interesting but I'm still not convinced it's normal." She admitted.

They took their place in line and helped themselves to the selections that were available.

* * *

Michelle having a child was ushered in to eat first, Callen waited in line with the team and selected his food.

"Daddy!" Jacob called and Callen smiled and headed in the direction of the waving child.

"You've only been here a few weeks and you let him call you that?" Deeks asked.

Callen nodded, "Sure."

"But Sam is his dad." Kensi said defending her teammate.

Callen turned to her, "Sam is Jacob's father, but I'm his daddy." He put his plate beside Michelle and sat down with the others sitting opposite.

"You think that's fair, I mean what about when you come back to NCIS?" Deeks asked.

Callen laughed until he started coughing, took a sip of water and wiped his mouth with a napkin.

"I am a natural born child, I can't work for a government agency it's illegal, I'm illegal. Until it is not a crime for me to be alive, I have no intention of coming back." He had been thinking about it for a while, but had literally just made a solid decision about it.

Hetty, Nikita and Arkady smiled at his decision, Nikita put his hand on his son's shoulder. "Are you sure you wish to stay moy syn?"

"Yes papa, I am finally in a place where I am free to be myself. I just wish…." he trailed off as he grasped Michelle's hand.

"You wish what G?" Sam asked.

"I wish I could be free to be myself anywhere without fear of being taken by the containment squad or sent to Gitmo. I am annoyed that I can't do the one thing I am good at, the one thing I was good at. I am going to miss being a federal agent." He sighed.

Hetty looked at the team all sat together around the table, she didn't want this to be the last time it happened and maybe with the plan she had put into action it wouldn't be.

"It is a good thing then Mr. Callen, that I might have an idea to fix your problem." She smiled.

 


	14. Chapter 14

Callen sat stunned, his fork full of food stopped in mid-air halfway to his mouth. "You think you can fix this?"

Hetty nodded, "Eat now we will talk after the meal, Nikita has graciously offered me a room at the main house so we can talk back there."

Callen turned to Michelle, "You staying tonight?" he asked.

She smiled and nodded, "Jacob is staying with Charlie tonight."

Sam looked over at his son, "May I spend a few hours with him tomorrow? I have no wish to take him from you, he seems settled and happy here. However maybe if I could get to know him and one day bring Rachel to see him?"

Michelle grabbed at Callen's hand under the table. He gave her a reassuring squeeze.

"You can see him tomorrow, but I would like Charlie to be there. Just so Jacob has someone he knows nearby."

Sam nodded, "Fair enough. I know you don't know me well enough to leave me with your son. but I would like to get to know him."

"Daddy drink?" Jacob asked and both Sam and Callen reached for the juice at the same time, Sam pulling his hand back.

"Sorry man." He apologized.

Callen smiled as he handed Jacob his drink, "He's small Sam. He  _decided_  to call me daddy, I didn't force it."

"I know." Sam smiled showing the others he didn't hold any hard feelings.

They all ate happily chatting away, a few questions being posed to some at the table about the workings of the compound and some children asking them questions about life outside.

Deeks watched all the happy children and wondered if this was the norm here, could it be that outside, everyone could be accepted as normal.

He never thought it would happen that straight people could move around freely not having to hide who they were. But if they could have the same kind of love he had for his husband and soon to be son, how could it hurt?

* * *

An hour later, coffee's, cognac, scotch in hand the small band settled in the main room of the large house.

Nikita and Hetty took the chairs. Arkady had his desk chair to sit on and the others took up the two couches.

Sam, Deeks and Kensi on one and Callen sitting in the smaller one his legs curled around comfortably as if he belonged there and Michelle snuggled into his side as Hetty started talking.

"As you know Mr. Callen, I was married to Clara, your mother, before she went undercover and met Nikita." The others looked shocked by this but she continued. "What I did for you Mr. Callen, was out of not only love and loyalty for my dear Clara, but as a need arose to save as many children that were natural born as I could."

"You did this for others?" Callen asked amazed.

"You were among the first to be helped." Hetty said nodding at Callen's question, "However your mother was not the first to ask me."

Everyone waited as Hetty took a sip of her scotch and started her tale.

"In the 1960's there was a man who became our president, his husband after his death approached me about a different side to the man that we all knew and loved.

John and Jack were a great couple, they loved each other fiercely and John loved his calling. Jack was thrilled when John was picked to be President of the United States. I remember when he called me with the news. Jack and I had been roommates at college and we had remained friends even after graduation. I had travelled down to be there during his husband's inauguration ceremony. John's Mother's, Rose and Josie had been so proud seeing their son sworn in as President and Jack's father's both travelled down to be there as well. It was the start of a great era." She waited as everyone listened to her tale.

"John wanted peace, more than anything he wanted America to be a great nation and the leaders of World acceptance. The one thing the world didn't know, only Jack and I knew was that John was straight."

"What?!" Sam exclaimed shocked, "That can't be right!"

"Hetty? Really?" Kensi asked surprised.

Hetty nodded, "Jack knew, but for the sake of the country he said nothing. They had their children and John loved them as much as Jack did. John did what was best for his country at all times. Never did he let his feelings compromise his duty. Although we knew. One day I was visiting with Jack and the children when John took a call from a famous movie star. She was very famous and both John and Jack were taken by her talent. As a surprise for his birthday Jack invited her down to the White house where she sang for John. He was starstruck, or so we thought, later that evening Jack and I found him in a compromising position with the actress, her name was Marilyn Monroe."

Arkady smiled, "I remember her, she was a big star in Moscow. She was Russian I think."

Nikita shook his head with a smirk that so resembled his son's. "No brother, She was an American. I am sorry, my brother has the mistaken impression that everyone famous should have been Russian."

Arkady laughed and Hetty continued the story.

"Of course, it would have been terrible if the truth had been known. John had just written his book, Profiles in courage, about senators who risked their careers for their personal beliefs and it had been published and won the pulitzer prize. but he was hiding his own biggest secret, that he was straight."

"But he was one of the best President's ever!" Sam argued, "It was a tragedy when he was killed by Oswald."

Nikita shook his head at that. "Lee Harvey Oswald did not kill your President Kennedy. Oswald was a fall guy. He was a natural born son of a Russian mother and an American Father who had tried to join the US armed forces but had failed due to the new tests that had been passed through congress to exclude natural born children from society. People high up in the government found out about Kennedy and his new peace initiative. He was planning on repealing the law that made being straight illegal. He wanted integration. I think your government was not ready for it then. My Clara told me once she had seen the files, Kennedy was assassinated by a shadow group within the CIA who wanted the myth that there were no straight people in the US to continue."

"That is just nuts, we all know there are straights out there… Sorry G." Sam said as he looked up at his partner.

Callen nodded, "I am straight, I have always been. But I am still who I have always been and despite the propaganda I am not a threat to any of you. I am not going to turn your children straight and I am not going to make any of you straight by just touching you. I just would like to be myself and do my job to keep the country safe."

"It is this _propaganda_  and the containment squads that need to stop Mr. Hanna. One of our greatest Presidents was straight and he had no intention of infecting the world. All he wanted was integration, which was easier to achieve with the racial prejudices of the day rather than the sexual prejudices we have now. But in the case of race, children were not being consigned to the gutter, for no other fault than how they were born." Hetty said making sure that he understood her point.

If being racist was wrong today and yet fifty years ago it was the accepted norm, how would being Hetrophobic be seen in fifty years.

Hetty watched as she saw Sam thinking about her words and reflected on some of the children she had managed to save, Hunter, Sullivan, Stevens, Vail...all dead now but all made a valuable contribution before they died. Proof positive in her opinion that segregation and abandonment of natural born children was fundamentally wrong.

* * *

"So Henrietta," Arkady said, cutting across Sam's train of thought. "You said you had a plan?"

Hetty smiled, "More like an idea. I have talked to Nikita and this afternoon I made a skype call to a man who owed me a favor. He will be coming here in a few days as I have vouched for his safety. He will be meeting with a few other people and we are going to show them what life's really like here and the truth about those awful broodmare farms."

"A meeting?" Deeks asked.

Hetty smiled, "Well….more like a Summit. I have promised that you  _all_  will provide security. That includes you Mr. Callen. Both Parties involved will be leaving their security details behind. This has been arranged with a lot of secrecy so I hope you will respect that."

"Who's coming Hetty?" Kensi asked.

Hetty merely smiled, "Just wait and see my dear."


	15. Chapter 15

Sam, Deeks and Kensi took the rooms that Nikita had provided for them.

After all the hubbub in the house had died down there was a knock on Sam's door.

He opened it slowly and stepped back in surprise, "G?"

"Can I come in?" Callen asked.

Sam nodded and moved to let him inside the room.

"Your room ok?" Callen asked as he entered.

"Yeah, it's great." Sam replied.

"Did you call Rachel?" Callen asked.

Sam shook his head, "She knows I'm on assignment, Michael has taken her to his parent's house for the weekend. I didn't know if we would be able to call."

Callen sighed, "Probably for the best right now. Jacob's asleep so I thought I'd come and talk to you."

"Depending on how this goes, I want to be able to see my son." Sam said.

"Michelle and I want you to be able to see him, he needs to know his father. I know he isn't natural born but he will be raised by a mother and father. I hope you aren't going to treat him differently because of it."

"Why would I?" Sam asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.

Callen shot a look of incredulity at him, "Really! Don't you remember how you reacted when you found out about me?"

"That was different, I didn't know then. Besides Jacob isn't natural born, he has a brood…"

"Don't!" Callen snapped, "Don't call her that. Michelle is Jacobs mother. She is not one of those. I love her Sam, you can't demean her like that, she is the mother of your child." He sighed and turned away from Sam looking out of the window at the lights in some of the housing in the compound. "I don't want to fight with you Sam. For Jacob's sake, we can't fight. I just need to know, Michelle needs to know are you planning on being a part of his life and if you are, will you discriminate against him because he has hetero parents?"

Sam shook his head, "I won't… I must admit I am worried about how he will be treated when other people find out his parents are straight, I mean... Does this mean he'll be straight raised in that kind of environment?"

"Of course not, but what he will be is free to be himself. We won't care who he loves, be it man or woman as long as the person he loves treats him with love and kindness back that is all that matters."

"But, being raised in the compound… I mean, everyone is... You know... Straight…"

"Actually, no, there are a couple who are Lesbian and a gay couple who came to join us. One of the men is a natural born so he joined us with his husband a few months ago," Callen told him.

"Again with the _**us**_!" Sam snapped. "I'm sorry G, but it seems like you aren't a part of the team anymore."

"Do you really think I can be Sam?" Callen asked honestly. "I mean I am straight and a natural born, both are illegal in society; Somehow I don't think the government will allow me to continue being a federal agent, do you?"

"Be a damn shame if they don't." Sam said, "You're a good Agent G, one of the best I've ever worked with. If the government can't tell that then they are stupid."

For the first time in a while Callen smiled at Sam. "Thanks man."

Sam nodded in acknowledgement.

"I'm gonna go, we got visitors coming in the morning." Callen stood up and headed to the door.

"Do you know who Hetty has asked to come?"

Callen shook his head, "No idea," he admitted.

* * *

Callen left and walked down the hallway, stopping for a moment to check on Jacob who was asleep holding a plushie with his thumb in his mouth, he walked into Jacob's room and pulled the blanket up over him stroking his forehead as he slept.

"Love you daddy." Jacob said in his sleep.

"Love you too buddy," Callen closed the door and headed into Michelle.

She was sitting on the bed in her nightgown with a book in her hand.

"Did you get to talk to Sam?" She asked, placing the book in her lap.

Callen nodded, "I did. I think it's going to be alright, he wants to be a part of Jacob's life, but he's ok with you raising him."

Michelle smiled, "Good, I love my son and I couldn't cope with them taking him from me now."

Callen sat on the bed and grabbed her hand. "You are a wonderful mother 'Chelle."

Michelle smiled and pulled Callen towards her for a kiss.

"Thank you."

* * *

Hetty descended the stairs the next morning to find Callen, Michelle and Jacob already up and having breakfast.

"Good morning Mr. Callen, Ms. Mason." Hetty said to them.

Michelle smiled as Callen stood to make Hetty a pot of tea. "Morning Hetty." She replied.

Callen poured the boiled water into the teapot and brought the tea over to her.

"So, can you tell us who is coming today?" He asked.

"The President." Hetty replied as she took a sip of her tea.

"Obama?" Callen said in shock. "Hetty, what have you done? He'll have us all arrested or killed!"

Hetty smiled, "Barack is not like others, he has been an advocate for Hetero rights behind the scenes for years. Officially, he is off to Camp David today, but unofficially he is off to visit family."

"Family?" Callen asked, confused, although he wouldn't have been surprised if somewhere down the line Hetty turned out to be related to him.

"John and David, the two men who joined a few years ago. Have you met them yet?" Hetty asked.

"John Tennant and David Robertson?" Callen asked, thinking of the mixed race couple he had met a few days ago.

"David's surname is not Robertson, it's Obama, he is a natural born. A liaison between a woman and one of the President's father's years ago. The family accepted David, but hid him for his own safety. Barack is coming to visit him. David has been working for our cause tirelessly for years, this is primarily the reason why Barack went into politics, to right the wrongs he could see in our system."

"What about The President's secret service detail?" Callen asked.

Hetty smiled, "They will be guarding The President and his husband while they go horse riding and have a picnic, while on a romantic retreat and visiting his father's on a ranch nearby."

"I don't…." Callen cut off as President Obama walked into the kitchen.

"Morning," The President said.

Callen looked shocked.

"Morning Ralph," Hetty smiled, "Are you ready to head over to the Obama's ranch to swap with Barack?"

"Yep… Just need coffee first." Ralph stopped and looked at Callen, "Calm down son, I'm just a look alike."

"I…. Ok... Hetty?"

Hetty smiled, "Of course I found him and trained him, he has stood in for Barack every time he's visited his brother, This isn't the first time Barack has been here. Although it will be the first time that he will meet with your father and uncle."

"And you're sure they will be safe?" Callen asked worried for his family.

"Very sure." Hetty replied.

* * *

As Sam, Kensi and Deeks came down, they were surprised to find armed guards downstairs. None of the guards made a move to stop them going anywhere but they were unnerved by their presence.

"Morning." Kensi smiled at Michelle as they walked into the kitchen.

Michelle was standing at the counter making Jacob's lunch before she headed off to the schoolroom to teach.

"Carrots mommy?" Jacob asked, pointing at the carrot sticks on the side.

Michelle nodded and smiled at her son while addressing Kensi, "Good morning." She handed Jacob an extra carrot stick to munch on.

Jacob smiled as Sam walked in behind Kensi and waved.

"Hey Jacob, Morning Michelle." Sam said as he ruffled the boy's hair. "Where's G?" Sam asked.

"Daddy gone meet." Jacob told Sam proudly, "I help mommy today."

"Really? Daddy's gone to a meeting? I hope you're going to be a good helper for mommy then." Sam said to the child.

"I the bestest." Jacob told his father.

Jacob held his hands up and Sam lifted him down from the safety chair and throwing in a small hug for good measure.

"You coming to school?" Jacob asked Sam.

"No, Jacob, Sam is going to the meeting with daddy and Papa Nikki."

"Ok." Jacob looked at Sam as if trying to sort something out. "I see you after school daddy Sam?" He asked.

Sam's heartstrings tugged at that one question, "Yes, Jacob, I'll be here."

Michelle picked up Jacobs backpack and placed it on her son's back.

"Callen is in the main room with Arkady and Nikita and, our guest, you three are welcome to join them as soon as you are ready."

"Who is it?" Kensi asked.

"You'll see, don't worry about the extra guards, they are security for our visitor. They won't stop you doing anything or going anywhere." Michelle grabbed her lunch bag, "I have to go school starts soon."

She headed out, leaving the agents to finish off their own breakfast and hurry to join the others.

* * *

They walked to the large room to hear voices from behind the door.

"You're crazy Hetty." A familiar voice said, "There is no way…"

"But Sir, too many have been affected by this, you, your brother, my sister…. They, like me, are human, my record proves that what you were told was wrong."

"I know it's wrong Agent Callen, that's why I am here."

They opened the door, walked in and stopped dead.

"Is that….?" Deeks asked in surprised.

David walked over to his brother, "Barack, the time is right to do this, now… It's the end of your term in office, what do you want to go out as, the man with a natural born brother or the man who saw the worth in every human being, no matter what their sexual orientation or circumstance of birth, the man who embraced true equality?"

"Damn it David!" Barack sighed; he knew his brother and Hetty were right. "I don't have a lot of choice, you are right, of course."

"Mr. President." Sam said, announcing the group's arrival.

The president turned around in surprise, "Agent Hanna, good to see you again."

"Likewise, Sir." Sam shook his hand.

"Are you…. Natural born?" The President asked in surprise. This was a man he had known, a Navy seal and he never expected to find him here.

"No, I work with Agent Callen. A man who is born naturally and I am proud to be his partner, sir, he's also a Hetero and a friend."

"He is a good man." The President agreed, "Although I think his plan is a little dangerous and very very foolhardy."

"What is it?" Sam asked.

"He wants to prevent an assassination." The President sighed.

"Whose?" Sam asked, his face forming a frown as his gut figured out the answer.

"Mine."


	16. Chapter 16

Callen stopped as the others all looked at him.

"You're going to what?" Kensi asked.

Arkady held up his hands. "We are not planning an assassination here. The president will be safe. However, we have heard of a threat to him, it is a credible threat. We sent it... We hope the person carrying out the assassination attempt will be a government born child. So who better to save him than a natural born child who happens to have slipped through the cracks and became a federal agent. A natural born federal agent who is straight."

"Damn." Sam said in shock, "That's…. That's brilliant. But, you're not going to be in danger are you?" He looked at the President, but his words were meant for Callen.

"I will be in no danger Agent Hanna." The President said. "I trust Agent Callen with my life."

Hetty smiled, "Besides, if this works not only will preconceptions be turned on their heads about natural borns and Hetero's, but Mr. Callen should be able to keep his job, after all, who is going to fire someone who saved The President's life?"

"What if Callen doesn't stop the threat, I mean you have no idea what the person behind the assassination is thinking."

"Actually, we might… and we do," Hetty said, "That is if Ms Blye would be willing to help."

Kensi sat heavily on the couch in shock, "You want me to... to shoot at The President of the United States!"

"Blanks, my dear." Hetty assured her, "Blanks."

"But… If it goes wrong… I could get shot, for a cause that, to be honest, I'm not sure I'm interested in. I mean either way it will never affect me."

"What if you have a child, you and Nell and one day that child comes up to you and tells you he or she is straight? Then it becomes your cause. I mean, wouldn't you want your child to have the same options in life as you had? Could you see your daughter being taken from her home and family because she was straight and put into a breeding center?" Callen argued.

Kensi shook her head sadly.

"Ok, I'm in."

The President walked over to her and bent down a bit so he was at eye level with her. "If it helps Ms Blye I give you permission to shoot me. I know with your accuracy I will come out of this alive. I promise your name will never come to light and there will be no repercussions from your actions."

Kensi looked up hopefully, "I don't suppose I can get that in writing?" She asked.

Barack smiled, "Of course." He replied. "You are doing a good thing. This will help end the bigotry and hatred that our country has lived with for far too long. Not less than forty years ago a man of color like myself could never have been President, it was wrong then, it is wrong now. The same can be said for sexual orientation, as long as you are not forcing people to be straight, it shouldn't be anyone's business but your own. " He stood up and looked at his watch, "I have a few hours before I am due to swap places with Ralph, so how about we have a look around and see how the compound is coming on?"

David stood up, "I know the children in the school were hoping that you would visit them next time you were here." He said to his brother as they walked to the door.

"So I will leave everything in your hands Ms Lange, Mr. Callen. Thank you all, this is a good thing you are doing for your country."

* * *

After the door shut they sat there for a few seconds.

"Did that just happen?" Deeks asked.

"Yep," Sam replied.

"Wow…" Kensi sat still in shock.

Callen stood up, "Are you guys ok with this? I mean I have to do it, but you don't have to be a part of this."

"What about the other threat?" Sam asked worried.

"That's what I mean, this will be going down in the next few days, like I said I'm hoping that the bullet that shoots me is Kensi's, if not it will be a real one. Either way the outcome is the same, the president is safe and our message will be heard with no casualties."

"If you die, that's a casualty." Sam reminded him.

"Yeah, but if I die, I'm natural born. Right now I don't count as a person. So still no casualties." Callen snapped back.

"You gonna tell Michelle, she cares about you you know?" Sam asked.

Callen shook his head, "Better she doesn't know. If she got worried, it might worry Jacob. Or worse, if this goes south the secret service might track back and find her. I am keeping her out of it. They need to be kept safe Sam, you promise me, if anything goes wrong, you will take care of Michelle and your son."

"I promise G." Sam said as Callen started pacing nervously.

Nikita stood up, he had been watching his son silently ever since he had first broached the plan with Hetty and the president earlier that morning.

"Moy Syn… Gregori… stop." He said. Callen halted in his tracks and looked at his father. "You need to trust your team. Henrietta told me that they are good people and that you have worked well in the past."

"Yeah, but that was before." Callen sighed.

"Before what?" Deeks asked.

"Before you all knew what I was... or wasn't… Before I was expendable. I mean you kill me none of you will be punished for it, I'm a non person. You can't get charged for killing a natural born person. But if you miss me and hit the president…"

"Blanks Callen, I'm going to be using blanks, even if I hit you…"

"You can't use blanks." Callen said abruptly.

"What?" Kensi looked worried.

"You can't use blanks, if they take a blank out of me they will know that it was a setup, you're going to have to use the real thing."

"But you said…..?"

"That was for the president's benefit; Do you think he would allow this if there was a real chance I could be killed or that you could be charged?"

"Even Hetty doesn't know you will be using real bullets. This has to be between us."

"But this means I…. I have to shoot you!" Kensi shook her head, "I don't care what you are Callen, you are my friend and I won't."

"Kensi… I will be wearing a vest just aim for my shoulder or side, I know your aim is deadly, you'll hit me with minimal risk."

Kensi sighed, "Ok… When?"

"Tomorrow. The president will be in Los Angeles giving a speech at a conference at the department of family and children's services in Vermont Avenue. To promote services for all government born children who end up destitute. Where better for a natural born child who managed to grow up in the system to save him?"

Kensi could see the logic in it, but it didn't sit well in her gut. However Callen was her team leader and she trusted him and needed for him to see it.

* * *

It was early when the team left the compound in the two blacked out SUV's that Arkady had provided for them, Kensi and Deeks in one and Sam and Callen in the other.

Hetty had gotten Callen and Sam invites to the presidential speech at Children's services, Sam as Security and Callen as a guest, a child who had risen up through the trauma of his time in the system to become a federal agent. He had been asked by the Department of Children and family services to be seated on the platform and maybe meet a few of the kids beforehand. His old social worker had been surprised when she had gotten the call asking if he could attend from the president's office. But they had assured her that he was indeed a federal agent and that he would be an inspiration for the young people who were attending that day. She readily agreed with the president's advisor who thought that a bad boy with a rough start who had turned himself around to become a member of law enforcement could be a role model for the kids there might actually be a good thing.

Callen was silent the whole journey there and Sam kept sending him sidelong glances of worry.

"G? You good?"

"I'm fine, Sam." He replied.

He was thinking about that morning, he had woken up, made love to Michelle and then they had eaten and he had gotten Jacob ready for the morning, all the while thinking that if he had misjudged Kensi it would be his last morning on earth.

He knew Kensi would never be caught, her escape route was perfect and if she was caught there was enough evidence planted to show that she had been aiming at him and not the president, he had given her original documents to show that he was natural born and had some pictures from when he had been seeing Gerry and Charlie that he had given her. He hadn't had some done with Michelle as it was important to keep her safe.

Before he knew it the car was stopped and he and Sam got out and headed to the venue.

"You wearing a vest G?" Sam asked, looking at his partner.

"Sure." Callen lied, he wasn't and couldn't wear a vest for this. But any thought of Sam challenging him was gone as they reached the entrance, Callen unarmed as a guest handed his id and his invitation over and went in, smiling as he walked over to greet his old social worker and meet some of the kids. Sam headed to the security booth to talk to the secret service, he was here in his capacity as Callen's partner, sent by NCIS to protect their agent.

The visit was a good way for Callen to reminisce about his childhood, he smiled as he saw his name carved into the old desk outside his social worker's office, where he had spent many an hour catching up on his homework while his social worker had been trying to track down a new placement for him. He showed one of the kids who had taken an interest in him.

"That was you?" The kid asked.

"Yep. Kept up with my schoolwork, the only thing I could control. Kept my grades, tight and I knew I would need them one day."

"Wow." the kid said surprised. "I just thought I wouldn't amount to much, don't really see the point in bothering." He admitted.

"You're not doing it for them, you do it for you. Doesn't matter what other people think you are or who you will be. You need to believe in you." Callen said.

He turned as the Social worker called for him, it was show time. The President was coming.


	17. Chapter 17

Callen sat there, listening to The President giving his speech, his mind only half on what was being said.

He was watching for the red dot that meant Kensi was in position. He hoped that her aim was true and that her shot wouldn't be fatal. In all his life he had never thought he would find a cause worth dying for, until now. The thought of Michelle being sent back to a breeding center sickened him to his core, or worse, Jacob being wrenched away from the mother he loved and brought up in the system, segregated from others because his mother was straight. No, this was a cause worth dying for if it meant that no child would be discarded because of the way they were created and no one would again be imprisoned for loving who they loved.

He watched as the dot flared to life on the president's chest.

" _ **SHOOTER!**_ " He yelled as he threw himself between the bullet whose shot rang out and was now travelling towards its target and the President.

Callen felt the impact as the bullet entered his body. "Sorry Kens." He whispered as both he and the President landed in a heap on the floor.

Within seconds Chaos had ensued. The secret service moved in pointing their guns at Callen, for a second until they realized that there was blood.

"Mr. President are you hurt?" One agent asked.

For a second the President looked down at the blood on his shirt, "I'm fine… Agent Callen….?"

"We'll deal with him, we need to get you out of here now." The secret service agent talked into his cuff mike, "Package is on the move."

"Make sure someone gets him to a hospital, he saved my life!" The President ordered looking at the fallen agent with concern as the secret service agents moved to get him away from the scene.

* * *

It took The President all of two hours and a direct order to be able to go to the hospital to see how the agent was.

He walked into the waiting room, ignoring the surprised stares of the staff and walked over to Sam.

"Agent Hanna, I am told you arrived with Agent Callen, this morning, How is he?" The President kept up the pretense of not knowing them and Sam had to admit he was impressed.

"Mr. President," Sam shook his hand, "I don't know how G is, He's been in surgery since they brought him in, no one will talk to me."

There was a clamor outside the room as a group of journalists had somehow found out where the president was.

"Let them in, I'll give them a statement." The president said as he saw a doctor coming out of the room that Sam had indicated Callen was in knowing what was coming. He wanted the press in earshot for this.

"Mr. President, can you tell us what happened?" A reporter asked.

"From what I know someone tried to kill me, An NCIS Agent, who right now will not be named for security reasons put his own life on the line to save mine."

"How is the Agent?" Another reporter asked.

The President turned to ask Sam, who had been talking to the doctor.

"What do you mean you can't treat him and he has to be discharged right away!" Sam yelled, "If you don't treat him as he'll die!"

"I'm sorry, I can't treat him, we ran his bloods… He's natural born." The doctor said.

"So this man saves the life of the President of the United States and you're going to let him die because he wasn't born in a breeding center?" Sam argued.

"It's the law!" The doctor argued back. "I hate it as much as you do, but he's natural born, we cannot waste resources on this man."

Seemingly ignoring the press, the President turned to the doctor.

"Doctor?" He started.

"Andrews…. N... Neil Andrews, Mr. President."

"Doctor Andrews, are you telling me the man who just jumped in front of a bullet to save my life is not a worthy enough man to be treated at this hospital?"

"I can't treat him, it's against the law!" The doctor said sheepishly, "I want to, I didn't become a doctor to pick and choose who I helped, but not only is he a natural born, but I think he's straight, he's been calling for a woman, Michelle. It's unnatural."

"I will arrange for my personal doctor to treat him." The president said, "I think anyone who saves my life deserves all the help we can give him. Now I am ordering you to save this man's life." The President glowered at the doctor who swiftly moved to obey as reporters took photos and notes as fast as they could calling in to report the story.

"I hope this works." Sam said to The President under his breath.

"So do I." The President replied.

* * *

Callen woke up as an orderly grabbed a plastic bag containing his shirt and jacket and threw it at him.

"You can't be treated here, get out." He snarled.

Callen looked down at the roughly stitched up wound, he could still feel the bullet inside him.

"Let me take out the bullet, Please?" He asked.

The orderly shook his head, "And have you contaminate our ER? Do you know what you are? You are an abomination, a natural born, how you managed to survive this far is beyond me!" He replied. "Now, Get out!"

Callen levered himself to his feet and started heading for the exit at the front.

"You can't go that way, decent folks will see you." The orderly pointed to the back stairwell, "That way freak!" He shoved him in the back, "Out!, I dunno where you freaks get off trying to take medical supplies of decent folk. I heard you, natural born freak and a Hetero too, disgusting."

Callen hurt too much to care at the hatred spewing from the orderly and he walked away.

He wandered around the outside of the hospital, hoping to run into Sam.

"Can't believe it," Said a man on the phone, "Yeah a natural born... Possibly a Hetero, he took a bullet for The President."

Callen looked at the man to see what he would say next.

"Yeah the hospital are treating him, The President insisted." The man looked at Callen in disgust and moved away.

Callen walked into the front of the hospital to look for Sam.

There were reporters everywhere, secret service agents were trying their best to corral them.

The President could be seen in the back with Sam. Callen could feel the blood seeping down his side, he knew that Kensi had hit true and if he didn't get help soon he'd be in trouble.

* * *

He walked towards Sam hoping to get his attention.

"I'm sorry Sir, but you need to leave."

"I need help." Callen argued. "Please…"

"I told you to leave!" The orderly said as he pushed his way past Sam, "We don't treat your sort in here."

"G?" Sam said as he looked towards the commotion.

"Sam…." Callen slumped against the wall and slid down to the floor.

The orderly picked him up by the neck to haul him out of the building.

" **STOP!** " The President's voice rang out, his authority palpable in the air. "Put him down and get him a doctor."

"But…. He's a….Natural born, and a hetero, it's illegal to help…"

"That man saved my life, he puts his life on the line every single day to help others and you think it's a fitting reward to allow him to die for saving your President's life?" Barack asked.

"I…."

"Get him a doctor! Every person has a right to life, this shouldn't be allowed. This man took a bullet for me and you are allowing him to bleed out and die in the lobby in full view of the world's press?"

"I… I…., Get a gurney!" The orderly yelled.

Sam moved to get closer to Callen who was fading in and out of consciousness.

"G…. G… you're gonna be ok… hold on partner…" Sam told him.

Callen looked up and focused on Sam, "Tell Michelle…. Tell her… I love her… and I'm sorry." Callen said and passed out.

Sam turned and pushed away a reporter, "Give him some room." He ordered.

Sam himself had to move as a couple of doctors turned up to help him.

Sam knew it was now his time to act.

The reporter put a microphone in front of him. "You know this man?" He asked, "Is it true, he's a natural born and a Hetero, both of which are illegal by our laws and he's a government agent?"

Sam stood up and looked at the president who nodded, "The Agent in question, whose name right now will be kept secret for his own safety, _ **is** _ a natural born person and a Hetero, he is a great agent. He has saved countless lives and I am privileged to have worked with him."

"Will you have to arrest him now?" Another journalist asked.

"For what? Saving The President?"

"For breaking the law." The same journalist replied.

The President walked up to Sam and stood next to him, getting the attention of all the journalists there.

"I intend to use this incident, to show the Senate that the law is wrong. Hetero people deserve the same rights as the rest of us. I am also going to talk to the Secretary of Defense about repealing the current Don't Ask, Don't Tell law in the military. It is about time the people of America were free to be who they are without any recrimination. After all, is this not the land of the _Free_ ….and the home of the _brave_? Well, these people who have made it through the rigors of testing for genetic markers; these people who through no fault of their own have come into this world and deserve to have a chance to have a decent life. This Agent, by his own actions has proven himself to be a hard working, normal person. He has managed to hold down a government job and has saved countless lives, all while having to hide who he really was. People like this Agent deserve to be able to live without fear."

"What about the NBSCA?"

"The group Natural Born and Straight Couples of America is NOT a terrorist organization. We have been given information that they have been peacefully trying to achieve what this Agent has achieved with his sacrifice."

"How do we know they aren't behind it?" Another reporter asked.

"The shooting is being investigated, I am sure that the Secret Service will issue a statement shortly."

"How is FHOTUS taking the news that someone tried to shoot you?"

The President smiled, "As always The First Husband has my back and is confident that with Agents like these around I will be safe, He and my daughters are grateful for this man's quick reaction. Now if you don't mind, I will be going to see how the Agent is fairing, I will make sure that you are all kept briefed, but please bear in mind that this is a working hospital and people need to be allowed access to medical treatment, so if you can clear this lobby as soon as possible others will be able to access the health care that they need."

The President turned and guided Sam back into the main area as his secret service agents helped the hospital security clear the lobby.

"Do you think this will work?" Sam said quietly to The President as they went inside to wait.

"I do hope so Sam, Callen has put a lot on the line for this." The President replied.


	18. Chapter 18

The first thing Callen heard was the beeping and movement nearby him.

He wanted to open his eyes and move away from the noise. He wanted to keep himself safe, but a hand settled lightly on his.

"Shhh…." Michelle's voice came to him. "You're back at the compound, you're safe Callen."

He wanted to claw his way back to consciousness, but the sense of defeat he was feeling overwhelmed him.

"Sleep Mr. Callen, you are going to be alright." An unknown man's voice floated in his ear.

For a moment he fought sleep, worried that Michelle was in danger.

"Everything is alright G, so sleep." Sam's voice added to the throng in his head. Callen trusted Sam, therefore, he knew that everyone was safe, so he slept.

A few times it happened. Half awake, half asleep, his body wanting to check his surroundings for safety, and being told by some voices that he recognized, and some he did not know, that he was safe.

Callen had lost all concept of time, but slowly he was healing.

Michelle spent most of her days in Callen's room, stopping only to look after Jacob when she switched with one of the others, Kensi, Deeks, Hetty, Sam, Nikita or Arkady.

At no point was Callen left alone; Sam had insisted on it.

* * *

Kensi had been horrified when she had found out that Callen deliberately chose not to wear a vest.

For the first two weeks after he had been moved back to the compound, she had refused to see him, blaming herself for his injuries. Until Nikita and Deeks had taken her aside, explaining that Callen had made his decision knowing full well what the consequences were going to be.

As soon as he had been patched up, The President had arranged for his personal physician to go with the small band to the compound, where he would be kept safe. The surgeon was pleased to go, as he secretly agreed with the cause, and had been a good friend of Barak's brother. Also, he had seen the way that Agent Callen had been treated. By now, most of the world had seen the Agent, whose face and name were blacked out, just being referred to as the Natural Born Agent, who had saved the life of The President.

There had been riots when it had come out, some in support of the unnamed Agent, and agreeing that Heterophobia should be made illegal. Some people argued that he should not have been treated in a hospital.

The President had announced his support for the group, and for all Heterosexual couples to be granted the same rights as others.

Congress had debated the rights and wrongs of using Brood Mares to conceive children. With the help of Eric and Nell, Michelle appeared in a YouTube video as the face and voice of the Brood Mares. Her story was told to the world, and many were surprised to find what they had known about them was wrong. They were not subhuman people, but intelligent young women forced to bear children for others.

Michelle argued her corner eloquently and passionately, with a few pointers from Hetty.

For a while, parents of new children were worried that Brood Mares would want their children back, and would take them away from loving families. Michelle appeared, via video link on ZNN, to promise that would never be the case; all these women wanted, was to leave the centers and go home to their loved ones.

She told how they were forbidden to talk for the whole nine months of their pregnancies, and how they were stripped of their humanity for the sake of others. Michelle also argued how a great many of these women had not wanted to have children, and how others would have gladly been surrogates to help others be parents.

The next day, amid a flurry of complaints to senators and congressmen, Congress voted to close all broodmare centers. Parents of children being incubated at the centers were brought in to meet their brood mare.

Some were heartbroken when they were told the mother's wanted to keep their children, but this was at a ratio of about 1 to 50. Lawyers and funds were set up for both parties, with the interests of the children being paramount.

Deeks and Eric were lucky. As Michelle had predicted, the woman carrying their child did not want to keep him, and agreed to hand him over at birth.

All of this happened while Callen slept.

* * *

Nikita would spend hours with his doctor; it had taken longer than they had expected for him to wake up. The bullet had lodged in his torso. Even though he had recovered from being shot five times years before, he had had the instant resources of a hospital, thanks to Hetty and her wife Karen pulling some strings. This time, he had been manhandled and thrown out into a dirty alleyway with an open wound.

Walking around to the front of the hospital while looking for Sam for help, had dislodged the bullet and caused more damage. It had not been until he had finally undergone surgery, as ordered by The President, that the extent of his injuries was revealed.

The President made sure that Callen's heroic efforts were plastered all over the news, and that he had personally ordered his doctor to look after him. However, it became clear that Callen could not recover in the hospital, as staff refused to treat him. After talking with Nikita and Arkady, Callen had been transferred to the Compound to recover as soon as he was strong enough.

The doctor had been impressed with the healthcare facilities that the small hospital had. Nikita spared no expense, and the people working at the small on-site hospital had no problem, tending to one of their own, or deferring to the doctor in regards to Callen's care.

It had been nearly a month, and apart from a few moments of slight consciousness, there had been no signs of Callen waking up.

* * *

Nikita, Hetty and Arkady were sitting with Callen, while Michelle took Sam to spend some time with Jacob.

Nikita looked up as the doctor walked in, "Doctor Bryson, is there any word on when Gregori will wake up?" Nikita asked.

Jaylen sighed as he looked at the worried family. "I still don't know; his injuries have all but healed. I have no idea why he hasn't woken."

"I cannot lose him," Nikita said, the pain in his voice evident. "I risked too much to find him, I cannot lose him again."

Arkady stood and put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Brat, your son is a fighter, he has made it this far. Do not worry, he will be awake soon. He is just taking his time."

Arkady was right.

* * *

Slowly, Callen opened his eyes.

He smiled slightly as he saw the petite frame of Hetty, sitting dozing in the chair beside him. He knew he had been injured, but he had no desire to wake up. He had been having a great dream where he was free to be who he was. To love whoever he wanted and to be himself.

He had worried that he had been outed as a Natural Born in his dream, however, he had met the woman of his dreams, found his family and even saved The President.

Callen chuckled slightly at how absurd his dream sounded, even to him. It was this sound that roused Hetty.

"Mr. Callen? It is good to see you awake." She said with a small smile.

"I…" Callen stopped as he discovered his throat was sore.

Hetty reached over and handed him some ice chips.

"Thank you." He said as the cool water soothed his throat.

"I will go and fetch your doctor," Hetty said and she stood up. "A great many people will be pleased that you are awake finally."

Callen nodded. For a moment he had hoped his dream was real, but he knew better than to expect dreams to come true. He lay back and closed his eyes, it had been a lovely dream and he wanted to remember what his father had looked like in the dream.

He remembered his name, Gregori. He liked it; it seemed to fit him.

He remembered the soft curves and feeling of Michelle, the woman he had fallen for, but even if she were real, she could not be here. They would be locked up if it came to light that he was straight. He sighed, thinking about her and wishing that she was there, and that he could just hold her one more time.

* * *

"Callen?" Michelle's voice came softly and he opened his eyes again.

"Michelle?" He asked in surprise.

She smiled and crossed the room wrapping her arms around him, she kissed him and for a moment he forgot where he was.

"Stop." He hissed and pushed her away.

"Callen?" She stepped back, looking hurt.

"If we get…" He stopped as he saw Sam standing behind her. "Sam… wait, it's not what you think!" He panicked as his partner moved further into the room.

Sam smiled, "That's funny because it looked like my partner was kissing his girlfriend."

"I'm…. I'm not str…"

"G?" Sam's smile turned to a frown. "After all you've fought for, you are going to deny who you are?"

"Who I…?" It took a moment as Sam's words penetrated his brain.

"It was real? The President… he's okay isn't he?"

Sam smiled as Michelle sat next to Callen and held his hand.

"He is well moy syn." Nikita said as he walked into the room.

"Papa." Callen was unable to stop the tears that started to fall; it was real. He _had_ a father, he _was_ a natural born and he _was_ in love with Michelle Mason and she loved _**him**_. Right now, his life was good.

"How long?" He asked as he looked out the window, surprised that the leaves were no longer green.

"A month; you were injured and then caught an infection. Doctor Jaylen Bryson has been working on you tirelessly, keeping you from dying."

"Does he know? I mean, does he know about me?"

Nikita laughed, "Son, everyone knows about you."

Callen's heart rate sped up as he started to panic, "Everyone knows?"

"G, it's ok." Sam reassured him, "A lot has changed in the last month. It's alright honestly, you are a celebrity and things are changing."

He looked confused again, but his father moved to hand him a stack of paper that had been sat on a table across from them.

"Just a handful of letters from well wishers." He said handing them over.

"You are back at the compound; we had you moved as soon as it was safe, as the press wanted to interview you. They still do." Nikita added as an afterthought.

"But… the containment teams, if I come out as straight and Natural born, I'll be sent to Guantanamo."

Arkady shook his head, "No. The containment teams have been disbanded and that awful camp has been closed down. Although there is, and will be for a long time, a lot of prejudice against straights and Natural borns, things are changing for the better."

Hetty nodded, "I have been informed by Director Vance that your job is safe by Presidential decree."

"Really?" Callen smiled in spite of himself.

"Really, however, he would like to meet with you before you go back to work."

"The President?" Callen asked confused.

Hetty smiled, "No, Director Vance. I am to call him now you are awake and he will be coming to see you here."

"HERE?" Callen moved fast and winced as his stitches were pulled.

Nikita smiled, "We have been pardoned," He told his son. "We are allowed to exist here and it is neutral territory, so you cannot be arrested here."

"When will he be here?" Callen asked.

"I think that two days for you to at least be able to sit up and greet him don't you Mr. Callen?" Hetty decided.

Callen nodded, two days and then he could meet with Vance, after all, no matter what he had been told, Director Vance was his boss and he could still fire him.


End file.
